How Does Arthur Radley Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

Atticus once said, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (Lee 90). Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the mockingbird as, “A common North American bird that is remarkable for its exact imitation of the notes of other birds.” In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee defines the mockingbird as innocent people who have been injured or destroyed through contact with evil. Although the mockingbird itself imitates the songs of other birds, in this novel the characters who portray the mockingbird reproduce what they hear- racism and violence, often without fully understanding their implications. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the symbol of the mockingbird is personified through Arthur Radley, Tom Robinson, and Scout Finch.

The first important character who symbolizes the mockingbird is Arthur Radley who is given the nickname Boo by the children. He suffers from destruction yet still demonstrates innocence. Scout reveals the reader of a story in that Boo Radley was bound to be sent off to an industrial school. A benefit to refine young men into responsible adults who turned away from their childish actions as an adolescent. Although this proposal was offered by the judge, Mr. Radley suggested Arthur be locked in the

During the trial, Atticus defends Tom by proving a fault within Bob Ewell’s claim of witnessing the defendant have sexual intercourse with his daughter. Judge Taylor states: “Mr. Ewell, you’re left-handed,” (Lee 77). Atticus has the intention to expose the fault that is Bob Ewell abusing his own daughter. According to Scout:

Atticus was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr. Ewell could have beaten up Mayella. That much I could follow. If her right eye was blackened and she was beaten mostly on the right, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it (Lee