How Does Maudie Show Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Atticus, being a lawyer, decides to defend Tom in his case because he feels that it is the right thing to do, since he knew no one else would; due to the fact that Tom was black. Tom was a man accused of rape and was found guilty even though the evidence clearly proved otherwise. Jem and Scout mature a lot during

Martin Luther once stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther claims the exact truth of how the time period was in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Throughout the book and the time period the kids learn and change a great extent personality wise, due to some background situations that have to do with racism. The kids, Jem, Scout (brother of Jem), and Dill (friend of Jem and Scout), realize that racism is awful. They see like Tom Robinson (African-American accused of rape) that are innocent and that can easily be viewed as a harmful person.

Jem was not happy about Tom losing his trial, he was the first one to cry about the loss and then sniffled, “It is not right Atticus.” Jem also grew in strength and bravery, this is shown when Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout, and Jem was willing to fight Bob in order to protect Scout from his knife. He is also not afraid to stand up for his family, and Tom when people are tearing them down. Jem develops from a stubborn, curious child to a mature, brave, and knowledgeable teen throughout the book, all because he made the right

In the novel "To Kill A Mocking Bird" written by Harper Lee in 1960, innocence is displayed and shown through some of the characters including Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley. Although these characters were innocent, they are all accused of doing something erroneous and are caused great shame because of it. The novel relates to a mockingbird because just like the bird, they had caused no harm and being punished was preposterous. One of the main characters in the novel, Tom Robinson, was charged with false accusations of raping the daughter of Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell. Tom hires Atticus to defend him in court, even though Atticus knew he had a strong chance of being defeated, he still took the case for not only Tom, but his family too.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Mockingbird is the main symbol in the story representing how the loss of innocence influences Scout Finch and the society she sees. With the story, To Kill a Mockingbird is to destroy innocence. This shows how evil and the realization of the truth can truly show society the cruel nature of what they do. Without this realization society will become blind of their actions and negligent.

Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930’s America. The main characters, Scout and Jem live in a world filled with racial bias and prejudice. While a major court trial is going on, Scout and Jem are trying to make sense of all that is happening, but they are pure children in a world filled with hateful people. Overall, Harper Lee includes a strong theme of innocence throughout her novel. This theme idea relates to the symbol of the book, the mockingbird, in the fact that, “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” so killing a mockingbird is destroying this overall idea of innocence.

While Scout is less knowledgeable of the trial, she sees Jem and how “... his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between them,”(282). Jem is watching his father go against the beliefs of the majority of Maycomb, while trying to prove an innocent man free of his accused actions. Jem puts himself in Tom’s situation, fully able to comprehend the importance of the case. He takes the pain Tom Robinson must be experiencing into himself, knowing how this verdict is changing someone’s life forever. Jem’s mature knowledge and awareness makes him a compassionate person, which is what Atticus had always aspired for his son to be.

Would you ever kill a butterfly just because it flies around you. Probably not because it is innocent and hasn’t done anything to harm you. In the town of Maycomb a mockingbird symbolizes an innocent thing that poses no threat; however many characters in the book possess traits similar to that of a mockingbird and they are still harmed due to the prejudice of the citizens of maycomb. In the novel to Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the symbolism of innocence of the mockingbird to develop and describe the characters of Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell, and Jem Finch. Tom Robinson is an innocent, gentle person who did good for a damaged woman but ended up paying with his life.

In the thought-provoking novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses epiphany, point of view, and symbol to convey that we become more desensitized the older we get. On page 285 Tom Robinson has just been convicted by his jury and the Finches have made their way home from the trial. Jem is deeply affected by the jury’s decision and is crying because of the injustice he has witnessed in the courtroom a few minutes before. Jem asks Atticus how the jury could convict Tom Robinson to which Atticus replies, “‘I don’t know, but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it--seems that only children weep’” (285).

After hours of waiting, the jury came back in. Scout explains how “A jury never looks at the defendant if it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson… Judge Taylor was polling the jury; ‘ Guilty...Guilty...Guilty’”(211) When Scout and Jem hear the verdict, they are distraught. As they were walking home, “It was Jem’s turn to cry.. ‘It’s not right, Atticus’”(212)

Jem's realization that the outcome of the trial

Jem was mature enough to then start to create his independent values, which were complementary to Atticus’s and Harper Lee’s. During the case of Tom Robinson, Jem said, “Doesn’t make it right... You just can’t convict a man on evidence like that—you can’t” (224). Showing that he views this case based on fact, not opinion. After the verdict turned up guilty, Jem cried on the way home.

Knowing this, Jem concludes that the Maycomb County justice system needs unbiased people to join the jury. Here, Atticus is telling Jem that if he were on the jury, the outcome would have been different, “‘If you had been on that jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man. ’”(294) This shows that even Atticus, a lawyer, agrees with Jem that the justice system is wrong. With Atticus agreeing with him it shows that Jem is saying intelligent things and that he is not saying things that are random and

Starting off, the first time the reader discovers what a mockingbird resembles is when Uncle Jack gives Jem and Scout air rifles. Atticus is not interested in guns, but he allows them to use them outside. Atticus then says, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird,” (119). This is the first time that Harper Lee makes a direct connection to the title of the novel. As the reader continues, Scout asks Miss Maudie for guidance, prompting her to say, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy...they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.

“‘Your father’s right, she said. Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”’ (Lee 119).