Significance of To Kill a Mockingbird's title in exploring racism and prejudice

Reasoning Behind the Title: To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird took the form of a novel before its adaptation into a film. This is a work that has a strong literal and metaphorical link to the title. To Kill a Mockingbird is an infinitive phrase that describes an action. The title is a phrase that communicates part of the main theme of the novel. By the time the reader has completed the novel, the reader should understand quite clearly what the consequences of killing a mockingbird in real life as well as within the context of the narrative. Mockingbirds, as the novel expounds upon, represent innocence and joy. Through various actions in the novel and as demonstrated through nearly all of the character arcs in the story, to kill a mockingbird is a solemn tragedy.

Characters such as Jem, Dill, Tom Robinson, Mr. Raymond, and Boo Radley are the people in the narrative who are most directed connected to mockingbirds. Arthur "Boo" Radley is one of the most mysterious and elusive characters in the novel. He is certainly a character that is the recipient of prejudice by nearly everyone else in the story, including background characters in the town. There are many rumors going around about the type of person Boo Radley is, but there are a rare few who actually get to know Boo. Jem and Scout are the characters that get to know Boo quite well, as Boo seeks them out, in his own way, to be friends and companions. He does not hurt others and is actually quite generous to Jem and Scout by leaving them gifts. Boo is a recluse. Boo additionally looks very strange to the townspeople. He has pale white skin and discolored, gray eyes, likely due to how much time he spends indoors. Yet the townspeople do not take these things into consideration. They only see him as different, strange, and potentially dangerous, and these feelings are particularly intense during the trial of Tom Robinson, who is additionally compared to a mockingbird because he, in truth, is an innocent man. Tom's innocence is diminished when is proven innocent yet charged as guilty.

In the novel mockingbirds are introduced and illustrated as symbols of innocence. These birds are linked to innocence and to kill one is a sin, as spoken through the character Ms. Maudie. Early on in the novel, Atticus mentions the link between mockingbirds and innocence as well. Later in Chapter 30, Scout tells Atticus that to kill Boo Radley would be akin to killing a mockingbird. Mockingbirds, according to the story, only have one purpose, which is to sing their hearts out. The only purpose for this kind of bird is to express song and the gift of music for others. Therefore, to kill a person, such as Boo Radley, who experiences a great deal of prejudice and mistreatment in the story, is a severe and tragic act. As the children and key adults in their lives learn, Boo Radley is a sweet and gentle person and not the monster the town tries to make him out to be.

Tom Robinson is yet another character that is a recipient of racism and prejudice in the novel. He is one of the most prominent examples of a symbolic mockingbird whose song and innocence was unduly extinguished. The most notable portion of the story where Tom is central is his trial. Tom Robinson is a black man in rural Alabama during a period in American history during the first Great Depression. This period in American history was notoriously racist and prejudiced, especially in the southern United States. The Great Depression affected the entire country pejoratively -- economically, socially, and with respect to morale. People who were scapegoats during this period were particularly tormented because of the additional psychological strain of the events during the period. Tom Robinson is a fictitious person with basis in real life, the black man, Emmett Till. Emmett Till was a young black man who was accused of making eye contact and speaking to a white woman, also while living in the south. While there was no formal trial like Tom Robinson, Emmett was punished brutally the same was Robinson was, just for being black. Till only spoke to the woman, but because of racial prejudice, the response by the white community was accusation, suspicion, and outrage. White men tracked the boy down, tortured him and lynched him.

Robinson was accused of raping a white woman when he only spent time assisting her because he felt sympathy for her. He felt sympathy for her mainly because her father, Bob, humiliates her and physically abuses her, as well as is known as the town alcoholic. Mayella, the woman Tom is accused of raping, falsely accuses Tom, partially because Tom refuses her sexual advances. Therefore, the prejudice and racism Tom faces has many layers and comes from many directions. Moreover, the prejudice toward Tom persists further. Despite the clear and logical demonstration of his innocence by Atticus, the white jury convicts Tom, sending him to a prison sentence. During an attempted prison break, Tom is shot dead. Tom is another gentle, innocent mockingbird, who only lived to serve others because of his status in society as well as the nature of his heart whose innocence that was removed by the false accusations, guilty verdict, and brutal killing, was a tender tragedy to which the title of the novel refers.