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
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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
editor, novelist, poet, and playwright, once said, “Innocence is a flower which withers when touched.” Innocence is, in fact, a very interesting and complicated state of being. The literal definition of innocence is the state in which one is free of guilt. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird is used a metaphor for innocence and people who are victimized and mistreated, but are completely harmless and innocent. the mockingbird is represented by and represents Arthur “Boo” Radley
A mockingbird is a sweet, pure songbird that causes no harm to people but their innocence is destroyed by the wrongdoing of others. Harper Lee uses the mockingbird to symbolize and communicate her theme of innocence in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. This can be seen in the characters of Atticus Finch, Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson, and Dolphus Raymond. Firstly, Atticus Finch is criticized for doing what he felt was right in his heart during the Tom Robinson trial. Secondly, Arthur (Boo) Radley only
was exposed to many things as a young girl and in the book To Kill a Mockingbird Scout is put through a hard time when her father, Atticus, was the lawyer for a black man in Maycomb, Alabama. Throughout the book she learns to understand thing and looses her innocence like how Jem has already lost his innocence in the book. So most of her growing older and smarter was reflected off of Jem. In the book Scout lost most of her innocence during the trial. At the age Scout was at, many girls think
The mockingbird represents innocence. Compared to someone hunting mockingbirds, people can kill innocence. Atticus urges his children not to shoot mockingbirds both literally and metaphorically. These were the kind of images that Lee hoped her readers would have understood. Lee wanted to prove to the post-war South that blacks and whites are more similar than they have thought. The color of the skin really made no difference, but was rather a mental separation. She wanted her audience to see that
Innocence is a trait guaranteed upon birth; however, the preservation of that innocence is not. From the moment that an individual is born, the environment surrounding them silently extinguishes small pieces of their intrinsic innocence. This happens predominantly in miniscule increments, in which seemingly insignificant pieces of one's innocence are gradually taken away; but, just as taking one dollar from a jar containing 365 dollars every day for a year would result in an empty jar, even the
The word ¨innocence¨ is often reffered back to our childhood. Innocence defines childhood in many ways and effects our thoughts, feelings, and actions as a child. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, innocence is a reoccuring theme and often reflects on ¨bildungsroman¨. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee displays innocence through the characters Jem and Scout. This gives the reader a unique perspective on the setting. Harper Lee also demonstrates the importance and effect of innocence during childhood
Everyone strives to be guilt-free, pure. They want to be innocent. Innocence is a positive trait to possess. Harper Lee illustrates how innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird is neither stupidity nor honesty through the “Mockingbird” symbol. These people we call “Mockingbirds” are often times shot down. Innocence is not even considered. People can be flat out rude to others and this disrespect can take a toll on the innocent. For example, Mrs. Dubose declares, ‘“Don’t you say hey to me, you ugly girl!
novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the novel, the girl, Scout, and her older brother, Jem, start out as innocent and carefree children, but undergo a change as problems arise for their family as a result of supporting the convicted yet innocent man, Tom Robinson. As Jem and Scout grow up and start to learn about their world, Lee introduces different scenarios in which Jem and Scout learn that not everyone in their world is kind and understanding. This makes the reader realize that innocence is a pure
In “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, there is a six- year old girl named Scout. She lives with her father Atticus, her older brother Jem, and her cook Calpurnia. Scout lives with them in their town Maycomb, located in Alabama. The main idea is how Scout loses her innocence throughout the story. Scout loses her innocence throughout the story. For example, when Scout and Jem learned about drug addiction. Scout and Jem were exposed to this when Mrs. Dubose passed away. They learned that
In “To Kill A Mockingbird” the mockingbird is more than just a little bird. It is a symbol of innocence. Mockingbirds are very innocent birds in which do no harm to the people around them. Throughout the story, many characters lose innocence and are harmed for no valid reason. Jem is affected by this the most. As he gets older he loses more of his innocence as he is exposed to the horrible things of the world. Discrimination plays a big role in the book and as the story progresses, It becomes worse
Innocence versus Experience, a great and very important concept in To Kill A Mocking Bird. This concept has been spotted several times throughout the book; the innocent Scout and her father, a man who has experienced so many. Scout is innocent as a child is innocent. We can see her ignorant actions every time we turn a page. She acts and says without thinking about the consequences that she must face afterward. For example, when Scout tries to explain to her teacher that she is embarrassing Walter
The Art of Preserving Innocence In the real world and in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, people try many different ways to preserve one’s own innocence. One example of this is how in real life, parents do not allow their children to watch television or own their own cell phone. The children's innocence is preserved by doing this in a sense that not being able to watch television means you cannot see disastrous situations all around the world, like people dying, that younger audiences may not
Shedding Innocence Finding a memorable piece of literature to write about is difficult for it demands that the piece reflects a part of myself. Reflecting on past experiences, I found Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, relatable. In this novel, Lee conveys innocence by having the plot revolve around two children named, Jem and Scout, whose father holds a case responsible for opening the eyes of the children naive to reality. Throughout the novel, I find Jem and Scout’s lighthearted, childhood
dictionary, innocence is defined as a lack of guile or corruption. In the book To kill A Mockingbird, innocence is shown as something that is commonly taken from the characters and replaced with acceptance of the injustices around them. The book is set in Maycomb country Alabama, 1933. The children in the book are faced with many challenges that were common in this time period. The main character, Scout, has a difficult time accepting certain concepts about how the world is. For example Atticus has
Dull of Innocence All babies are born like blank pieces of papers knowing nothing about the life ahead of them. Whoever they become depends on the experiences and influences drawn on top of them. Younger kids tend to obtain more innocence compared to older kids and they are more willing to believe in the magic. However, as they obtain more knowledge about the world around them, they gain more insight into the reality and the innocence will slowly begin to disperse. As Mary Astor had once said,