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Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Mockingbirds are birds that sing for us to enjoy and are considered a sin to kill. Miss Maudie explains to us it is a sin because mockingbirds do not do anything bad but make music for us to enjoy. The mockingbird in To Kill A Mockingbird symbolizes the innocence of a character such as Tom Robinson, Jem Finch, and Boo Radley. Harper Lee uses the repetition of the mockingbird and the corruption of innocence to show innocence being destroyed by the injustice of society.
Harper Lee uses Tom Robinson and his trial to show his innocence being destroyed by racial prejudice. Tom Robinson is an innocent black male blamed for raping the daughter of Mr. Ewell. Atticus proves that Tom is innocent but, the jury rejects his claim because of his skin color. …show more content…

Harper Lee uses Boo Radley and his past to show his innocence being destroyed by his childhood. Boo is a caring man that does not seek harm but society sees him as a psychopath for supposedly trying to kill the Radley family. For example, the text states , "As Mr.Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent 's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants and, resumed his activities" (13) and later on the text says "Mrs.Radley ran screaming into the street that Arthur was killing them all, but when the sheriff arrived he found Boo still sitting in the living room, cutting up the Tribune" (13). These quotes show Boo Radley with a different identity, causing others to be scared of going near him, and therefore isolating him from the rest of society. Mr.Radley was a "Foot-Washing Baptist", he believed anything pleasurable was a sin, he took away everything from Boo and put him under house arrest for making little mistakes. Boo wants to interact with society (like leaving gifts for Jem and Scout) but Nathan Radley wants to contain him inside the house and breaks all connections he has to the outside world (Like cementing the tree of gifts). In the end, we learn that Boo is rather caring by protecting Jem and Scout from Mr.Ewell, showing us that he is not the person society

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