Blue Jays and Mockingbirds
Who are the blue jays and mockingbirds of To Kill A Mockingbird? Set in the early 1930’s of America, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a coming-of-age book that tells the story of an innocent, naive child becoming an adult through the experience and intake of racism, discrimination, and social injustice throughout the book. Harper Lee’s development, usage and characterization of her characters throughout To Kill A Mockingbird help establish two of her most important themes of the book, which are the presence of social injustice and the coexistence of good and evil.
Social injustice is consistently seen throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. For example, Lee’s main characters, such as Jem and Scout Finch, develop
…show more content…
Tom Robinson is a young African-American who's been accused of raping and abusing Mayella Ewell, a young and closeted white woman. Racial discrimination is hinted throughout Tom’s trial as Atticus Finch explains to Jem that a white man’s word will always win over that of a black man’s - "...In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. They're ugly, but those are the facts of life" (220). Atticus explains to Jem that in the courts of Maycomb, a black man’s state of innocence or guilt is truly determined by a white man’s testimony. As can be seen, Lee’s usage of Tom Robinson’s trial and the racial discrimination and prejudice seen throughout it helps reinforce the theme of social injustice throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Another encounter that the …show more content…
Through characters such as Jem and Scout, Lee displays the theme of social injustice while through characters such as Atticus and Bob the theme of the coexistence of good and evil is illustrated. From Tom Robinson’s trial to Mrs.Dubose and her views, Harper Lee establishes and delivers a coming-of-age story that criticizes and examines real life social issues, whilst telling it from a child’s point of view. This in conclusion, is the true nature of To Kill A