To Kill A Mockingbird Theme Analysis

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What is innocence? Innocence can be defined in several different ways that include freedom of guilt and sin, total honesty, or lack of worldly knowledge. The story To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the 1930’s in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Loss of innocence is the main theme that is depicted throughout the story. The first way this theme is shown in the story is through the trial of a black man by the name of Tom Robinson. In addition, this theme is shown through two men named Atticus Finch and Arthur “Boo” Radley. The final way loss of innocence is shown in the story is through Scout, Jem, and Dill as they see all the chaos and the morbid experiences that occur in the world around them. The story of all these people describes …show more content…

These three children are sadly caught up in the crazy world they are living in. “Atticus said to Jem one day, ‘I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (Lee page 103). This is the quote that really stands out since many of the sub stories throughout the book revolve around this thought making it easy to relate to. In the story so many “Mockingbirds” are killed so in essence to say killing a mockingbird is to say killing another’s innocence. These three children have to witness all of these “mockingbirds” dying that their own “mockingbird” is killed in a …show more content…

Atticus’s loss of innocence comes from the freedom of total honesty as he discovers this world is not a safe place for his kids due to the selfishness of others. Boo’s loss of innocence comes due to his lack of worldly knowledge causing others to judge him inappropriately. Lastly, and perhaps most profoundly, the children lose their innocence as a result of the loss of innocence of the others as the children’s innocent world is replaced with such horrendous experiences. This explains how the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows the loss of innocence theme so

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