The title of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is taken out of a quote from the book, where Atticus Finch says to Jem “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Later on, Miss Maudie states that it is indeed a sin to kill a mockingbird and that they don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. (Lee, 1960: 96). This shows that a mockingbird is a symbol of innocence. In society, there comes a time in a person’s life where innocence is lost as a result of an experience or a gain of knowledge. Due to the death of Tom Robertson who is symbolised as a Mockingbird the innocence of Jem and Scout Finch is lost.
Lisa Dept is an young educator who grew up in Baton Rouge in the early 1900’s, in a letter she wrote to her daughter and it reads:” As much as I think of you as my gift to the world, I am constantly made aware that there are those who see you otherwise.” (Dept: 1) The most evident character of innocence is Tom Robinson who grew up in exactly the same circumstances as Lis Dept did. A young, muscular young black man. He has been accused of raping a young white woman. Witch during the time of the early 1930’s it was and is seen now as a big criminal felony.
The people of Maycomb believe Tom to be guilty simply based on the colour of his skin, any dark-skinned person is inferior to whites. However, he is the innocent one and Mayella Ewell the guilty. In the eyes of the jury Mayella is the innocent purely because of her age, sex and skin colour. Tom Robinson is with evidence an innocent man, based on the facts that he is falsely accused of rape and the fact that the jury is so willing to convict an innocent man based on the fact that he is black. Children are not children anymore, they are physically present but their clothes, toys and street games are consumed by a rush for adulthood. (A child’s innocence is precious. That’s why it must be protected | Observer editorial, 2020)
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Scout who is a very young lady when the novel starts is one of the most innocent characters because she has not yet manifested the values of the grown-up world. She is also innocent on a large scale by the importance of gender standard, preferring to be a tomboy and spending all her time with Drill and Jem. Mrs Dubose even tried to change the way Scout dresses by saying to her “You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways” (Lee, 1960: 107) and not even what Mrs Dubose says will change her mind.
Bob Ewell has no innocence so he tries to demolish the innocence of other people and he succeeds. He has no innocence purely based on the fact that he resents black people and blames a black innocent man for raping his oldest daughter Mayella Ewell. A reason that can most certainly be a possibility is that Bob Ewell is inappropriately involved with his daughter Mayella and that he accuses an innocent man of raping her because of jealousy when he saw his daughter/lover kissing another man. (Lee,1960: 196-201)
Bob Ewell is not only accused of losing his own innocence but taking the innocence of a number of people, especially when he wants to kill Scout and Jem as revenge because their father accuses Bob of the truth. We get to know Mayella at the beginning as a destruction of innocence. She accuses an innocent man of raping her just so that she and her farther does not get shamed for her sins of liking a black man. However, Mayella had innocence at a time, she was stripped of it when her farther manipulates her into lying after she has sworn under oath to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The title To Kill a Mockingbird doesn’t really connect to the plot of the novel, but caries a great weight of symbolism. The mockingbird symbolises the good and the idea of innocents. To kill a Mockingbird is to destroy the good and innocent. In the novel various character are seen as the Mockingbird and they are Tom Robinson because he is falsely accused of rape. Boo (Arthur) Radley because he is judged by people who does not know him and lastly Atticus Finch because he is judged of being committed to racial equality.
The gun that is used by Atticus Finch to shoot the mad dog is a symbol of power that is being abused. The dog cannot defend himself and because he looks like he is going to attack someone he is killed. The mad dog is a symbol of the community that is busy going crazy and the gun is the power. The gun has power over the dog and so the whites has power over the black people. If the accused was switched around and Bob Ewell was accused of raping Tom Robinsons’ wife, he would have been founded not guilty.
Characters and symbols play a big part in the novel as they are the things that bring the story to live. The Mockingbird is a symbol of innocence and it is a sin to kill one, because they do nothing but sing their hearts out. Why do you want to silence something that is so pure of innocence? The Ewell’s were all born innocent but it is circumstances and others opinion that takes that innocence away.
Reference
- Lee, H., ed. 1960. To Kill a Mockingbird. England and Wales: Heinemann.
- Lisa Dept. Facing History and Ourselves. 2020. Growing Up With Racism. [online] Available at:
