To Kill a Mockingbird

English II Teacher

To Kill a Mockingbird: A novel with many mockingbirds

According to the Southern attorney Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a 'mockingbird' is a creature that simply gives pleasure to others, and does no harm. To kill a mockingbird is a great sin, given the gentleness and kindness of this creature. The most obvious mockingbird in the novel is that of Boo Radley, a gentle, reclusive person who saves Jem and Scout from an attack by a racist man named Bob Ewell who is angered by Finch's defense of a black man accused of raping Ewell's daughter. Yet the entire tale, it could be argued, is full of mockingbirds, as defined by Finch. Almost all of the major characters act as 'mockingbirds' over the course of the novel. [Thesis]

The accused African-American man Tom Robinson is clearly a mockingbird. After the lonely Mayella Ewell makes an advance towards him, which Tom rejects, she in turn accuses him of rape. For a black man to be accused of rape in the South is a death sentence, and even Atticus' children Jem and Scout suffer as a result of it because prejudice runs so deep. Tom merely wished to be helpful to Mayella, and it was she who approached him, asking him for help around the house. Tom is literally killed for his kindness. Because he was helpful to Mayella because he felt sorry for her, she fixated on him and made advances. Then, when she was discovered by her father, she protected herself by accusing Tom. Not only is Tom found guilty, but before Atticus can stage an appeal, he is killed in prison while attempting to escape.

The trial suggests that Atticus himself is a kind of mockingbird. Atticus tries to do good, but is thwarted in his efforts to see justice done because of the racism inherent in society. Scout and Jem are likewise tormented by their classmates because of their father's courageous decision to defend an obviously innocent man. Scout already hates school and feels like a persecuted mockingbird in its controlled, conformist environment. She would rather be playing with her brother and her best friend Dill. School is yet another example of the ways in which society can be cruel and persecutory of people who are 'different.'

Scout is not above hurting other people, however. When she is humiliated by her teacher because she explains why a poor boy named Walter cannot afford even to borrow money for lunch and her teacher reprimands her, Scout turns against Walter by beating him up during lunchtime. Before she is saved by Boo, she is frightened of him and she and her friends make up stories about him, because they fear what they do not understand. It is this misunderstanding and fear that creates 'mockingbirds' -- both at school, and also in the hateful behavior of people like the Ewells, who attempt to keep African-Americans in their place, to bolster their own social reputation.