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Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Decent Essays

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has many themes. One of those themes is innocence. There are many ways you can interpret this: little kids are innocent, nice people are innocent, or old people are innocent. In To Kill a Mockingbird, innocence doesn’t stay around. Innocence is only temporary. This book spans over three years. In those three years Scout, and Jem start to lose their innocence. A trial begins for a black man named Tom Robinson. The kids going to the trial is the main thing that causes them to lose their innocence. There are items or animals that symbolize this innocence. Harper Lee uses white camellias, a mockingbird, and a roly poly to show innocence never lasts.
First, Harper Lee uses white camellias to show innocence never …show more content…

Tom was a black man who was accused by Bob and Mayella (white people) for raping Mayella. At the time, the world was very racist. The juries were all white and whites always won, no matter what. There was evidence that Bob is the one who raped and abused Mayella. For example, Tom’s left hand is crippled so he can’t use it, yet Mayella’s right side of her face was beat up and there were two hand marks around her neck. Also, when Atticus asked Bob to sign his name, he wrote with his left hand. After all this, Tom was still proven guilty and sent to another jail. People were even racist there. Running for his life, Tom was shot seventeen times. Nobody shoots someone that many times unless they like it and want to see him struggle. Also, this was during the exercise period, which involves running. This means he was just exercising when they shot him. Tom was an innocent man who was killed over racism. After Tom’s death, Mr. Underwood, the publisher of their town’s paper, wrote an article about Tom. Scout narrates, “He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds…” (Lee 241). This is significant because songbirds are another name for mockingbirds, and mockingbirds symbolize innocence. Atticus says, “‘Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’” (Lee 90). Mockingbirds make music for us and do nothing wrong. They don’t even make nests in your …show more content…

There was a roly poly that got into Scout’s room and she was playing with it. She would poke it so it rolled up, let it unroll and walk, poke it again, and repeat. At one point, Jem growled at her and told her to stop and put it outside. Annoyed, Scout set the roly poly outside. Scout asks, ‘“Why couldn’t I mash him?”’ (Lee 238). Jem responded “‘Because they don’t bother you…”’ (Lee 238). Scout accepts but is a little angry. Scout narrates, “He was certainly never cruel to animals, but I had never known his charity to embrace the insect world” (Lee 238). Scout let the innocent bug live, but at some point, that little bug will be mashed since it’s so small. Someone will end up stepping on it and killing innocence. Killing the roly poly is an example of killing

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