The Symbol of the Mockingbird Lies at the Heart of Harper Lee’s Novel to Kill a Mockingbird. Discuss.

Mockingbirds be not only when symbols of innocence they ar also symbols of happiness and to exhaust them is black. This concept, the nonsensical persecution of an innocent individual, is central to Harper leewards novel. Boo Radley and tom Robinson are both scoffer figures, innocent yet condemned through the evils of society. The symbol of the jeerer, with its associated ideas of a fragile, albeit beautiful innocence appears when Atticus discriminates Jem and vigil they may shoot wholly the bluejays they want, save remember its a sin to kill a mockingbird.This is the first time talent scout has ever heard Atticus theorise it was a sin to do something. The full meaning of this remark is explained to Scout by elude Maudie as she explains that mockingbirds do nothing but gurgle their hearts out for us, making music for the enjoyment of everyone in Maycomb. They represent a type of gentle and harmless creature. Throughout the text, Lee reiterates that to kill a mockingbi rd would be wicked and spiteful, a senseless and pointless act of destruction. Boo Radley symbolises a beautiful, but tortured mockingbird that is misunderstood and ostracised by both his family and the wider community.He is kept as a captive in his own home, kept in confinement by his dear Baptist family. Despite this treatment Boo remains gentle and harmless. However, people tell stories about how he eats squirrels and cats and poisons the pecan nuts in the civilize yard. To the community Boo is a malevolent phantom. Gradually Scout and Jem begin to see things from Boos perspective. Like the mockingbird Boo gives pleasure and ease for example, the gifts in the tree, the blanket placed around their shoulders as they watch Miss Maudies home go up in flames.Finally, he saves Scout and Jems lives. In turn, Scout realises to drag Boo into the limelight would be like shootin a mockingbird and a cruel betrayal of all the inherent truth Boo symbolises as a mockingbird. The mockingbi rd symbol also involves the broader themes of jurist and how it can destroy an innocent person. Tom Robinson is an honest and principled scandalous man who is accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell. He explains he was only in the Ewells house to help her however, he condemns himself in the eyes of the board when he says he felt gloomy for her.This would be seen as the utmost class of citizen showing superiority towards a class above. The white communitys alarm of racial disturbance and their insecurity about their own position in society meant that Tom Robinson was found guilty. The prosecutor responds with feigned indignity You felt sorry for her you felt sorry for her? Harper Lee uses rapid dialogue in the courtroom scene to emphasise the way the prosecutor attempts Tom, like an attack on an innocent mockingbird. Harper Lee exposes not just the prejudices of Maycomb but the ugly nature of such beliefs in society as a whole.Justice is betrayed when the jury ignore the evidence and destroy the mockingbird figure of Tom Robinson. It is evident that both characters have mockingbird traits. They both show benignancy Boo to the children, Tom to Mayella. They are both innocent Boo of the evil persona with which he is associated and Tom of the crime of rape. Both are victims of prejudice. The significance of the mockingbird motif broadens out to contain many layers of meaning and is kept alive through the narrative continually reminding the reader of the theme of prejudice with which it is associated.