What are the characteristics of a mocking bird? Nice, kind, unselfish? Who is the Mockingbird?. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a white lawyer Atticus Finch who protects a black man that was accused of rape. Back then in the 1930’s the men, woman and children with black ethnicity were verbally and physically abused. The character Tom Robinson is most likely the Mockingbird because “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy . . . but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin To Kill a Mockingbird.” The reason why Tom is the Mockingbird is because he helped Ewella at the farm cutting the wooden chifforobe with no charge although Ewella had offered 5 cents. Although some may say that Atticus is the …show more content…
They only make beautiful music for people to enjoy. To Kill a Mockingbird is a sin, he says. Comparingly, Tom never did anyone harm. On the contrary, he went out of his direction to the farm to help Mayella Ewell on occasions when he passed her house/farm. This is a good argument because killing Tom is like killing a mockingbird because neither cause any harm. Even when Mayella lies to the court and accuses him, he does not get angry but rather says "she's mistaken in her mind". Because everyone including Tom is trying to be respectful to Mayella because they realize the love and kindness that she does not receive in her household with Bob Ewell who is the one that has accused Tom Robinson of sexual assault. The audience of To Kill a Mockingbird may say that Atticus is the mockingbird because he does no harm, but the character Tom Robinson is best pictured as a mockingbird. They can both be portrayed as a mockingbird as a example Atticus is looked upon by his community and helps out his people and tries his hardest to do his best. And Tom Robinson can be portrayed as a mockingbird by his actions in helping Mayella Ewell with the hard duty that Mayella was not capable of doing. Although they both would work out great as being a mockingbird Tom Robinson is the better representation of a mockingbird. The reason behind the that I think Tom Robinson is the mockingbird is because Atticus works as a lawyer who goes
Tom Robinson is a kind black man whom Atticus is defending against the charge that he raped Mayella Ewell. Atticus knows that he will lose because Tom is black, but he also knows that Tom is innocent and that he has to defend him. Tom Robinson is portrayed as a hard-working father and husband in the novel and he was only attempting to help Mayella since no one else would, but she made advances that he refused and her father saw them. On the witness stand, he testifies that he helped her because, "'Mr. Ewell didn't seem to help her none, and neither did the chillun.'" (256). Even though Tom helps Mayella out of kindness and pity, Mayella is trapped and must accuse him of raping her to save her own life. Shortly after being wrongfully convicted
Boo Radley is more subtle in showing how he represents the mockingbird, as he is more of a quiet, shy character. Boo was confined to his home but is still aware of the people around him. The children view him more as a superstition than a person in the beginning of the novel but Scout realizes just how good of a person Boo really is when he saves her and Jem from Mr. Ewell. Tom Robinson represented the killing of the mockingbird. He was looked down upon by most of the community but he was an innocent man who had no intention of harming anyone, yet he was still convicted of the crime and sentenced to
(263,264). By demonstrating that Jem did not instigate the attack upon him or his sister, Lee is able to show that Jem is a non instigator also known as a “Mockingbird” because he did not do anything to bring the attack upon himself or his sister. Also, Lee demonstrates the none “Mockingbird” Mr. Bob Ewell by attacking the young Finch children. Another instance of “Mockingbird” characters is Tom Robinson, a hardworking, family loving African American who was put up for his life against the word of two white people even though he had not committed any offences he was being charged for. Tom Robinson was found “Guilty. .
“I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after the birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mocking bird.” Atticus Finch recites these lines to his two children, Jem and Scout after he gives them air-rifles for Christmas. Scout is curious, as this is the first time that she has ever heard her father refer to anything as a sin, Scout asks Miss Maude what Atticus meant by this. Miss Maude tells Scout that mocking birds don’t rip up people’s garden’s or annoy them in any way, all they do is play beautiful music for us to listen to.
To begin with, Tom Robinson is an innocent being that resembles a mockingbird because he is falsely accused of raping Mayella Ewell. He is a black man that believes in equality. '''Yes suh. I felt sorry for her, she seemed to try more'n the rest of 'em-''' (Lee, 209) This honest statement Tom Robinson makes is a big mistake because back in the 1900s, there was a lot of discrimination which meant black people should never feel sorry for white people. It is a sin to kill Tom Robinson because he is a harmless citizen that means no harm to anyone in Maycomb. The death of Tom Robinson was typical to many white citizens in Maycomb because if black people were ever convicte...
mockingbird is a symbol for two of the characters in the novel: Tom Robinson and
Atticus Finch, a moral perfection, accepts the case of Tom Robinson despite strong opposition from his neighbors; thus, Jem and Scout are put in danger. Tom Robinson’s case deals with controversial material to begin with, which is only made more contentious because of Tom’s skin color. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930’s, during the Great Depression. Although slavery was abolished more than 50 years before the era in which this novel takes place, in the southern county that the Finch family lives, Jim Crow oppression is still exercised on the black citizens of the area. Bob Ewell, the town’s trashy free loader, has accused Robinson of assault and rape of his daughter, Mayella. Atticus reasons with Scout, regarding why he chose to accept Tom’s case; “‘…every lawyer gets at least one case in his lifetime that affects him personally. This one’s mine, I guess,”’ (Lee 101). Atticus views this situation as a matter of pride. Somebody in the town must stand up to do the right thing, which is to represent Mr. Robinson, a “clean-living” man. He clarifies that he could not face his community any longer, nor c...
Mockingbirds represent Tom Robinson because people look down upon him because he is black. Mr.Ewell accused Tom Robinson of beating and raping Mayella Ewell, his oldest child. In the end, no one had any evidence, so it solely depended on each man’s word. Atticus Finch, Robinson’s lawyer and Scout and Jem’s father, found that the person who beat Mayella’s right eye would have to use their left hand. The jury found Robinson guilty even though he couldn’t have committed the crime because “his left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side”(Lee 211). Later at the prison, guards shot him multiple times after ‘attempting to escape’. In addition to maintaining a full-time job and supporting his family, he had found time to help others in the community, white or black, for free. Despite helping The Ewells with chores, they didn’t return the kindness when Robinson needed it the most, ultimately killing him.
Atticus defended Tom Robinson because he believed in the Golden Rule; one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. For example, Atticus says “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin To Kill a Mockingbird” (Chapter 10). He states that if a mockingbird doesn’t do harm to you, why should you harm it? In chapter 3, Atticus gives Scout a piece of advice, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” This applies to Tom Robinson beca...
I think Tom Robinson represents the mockingbird symbol because he did not do anything wrong. He also did not hurt anyone ever. He helped people when it was needed. An example of when Tom helped someone was when he helped Mayella Violet Ewell (Page 191). He said that he helped her when she called him into her house to fix something. She threw herself all over him and he knew that if he shoved her that he would get in trouble. Another example of when Tom represented a mockingbird when he was accused by Mayella and she claimed that he beat her up. He obviously had a crippled left hand because he got it stuck in a cotton gin
Atticus is a lawyer in Maycomb county in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus is raising two kids Jem and Scout while having to defend Tom Robinson. Tom is a black man and is going to court for supposedly raping a teenager. In the time that this book was wrote it was very uncommon to defend a black in the way that Atticus defended Tom. It makes sense for Atticus to take a stand to defend Tom Robinson because Atticus is selfless and reliable.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are many representations of mockingbirds. A mockingbird in the novel, is an innocent soul. One of the most famous quotes from the novel is “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”( Pg. 103) The reason it’s considered a sin to kill a mockingbird is because they are innocent and do no harm. In the novel there are three main mockingbirds. Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson
Atticus Finch is the most significant character, in To Kill a Mockingbird, who challenges racial prejudice as he does not follow the norms, in Maycomb, of being racially prejudice towards others. At first, Atticus Finch is reluctant to take on Tom Robinson’s case; however in the end, he willingly accepts. Unlike the majority of Maycomb residents, Atticus is not racist and makes no distinction upon race, he sees Negroes, just like Tom Robinson, as the same equality as any other person in the Maycomb community. For this reason, he believes they should be trea...
Tom Robinson was one of the most talked about characters in the novel ¨To KIll a Mockingbird¨ He was known as any other black man pretty much. He was very discriminated, but he was also very innocent. The reason many people were familiar with Tom is from his court case. He was accused by Mayella Ewell and her father for beating her and raping her. This drew many people to the courtroom to see what would go down, and as expected he
“'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (Lee 119). With these words, Harper Lee explains that these innocent mockingbirds do us absolutely no harm and only bring us joy. Because of these attributes, killing a mockingbird would make it a victim of underserved violence. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch grow up in the racist town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s with their father, Atticus. While the kids have fun tormenting their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, Atticus takes on a case where he has to defend Tom Robinson, a black