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What does the mockingbird symbolize in To Kill a Mockingbird?
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To Kill a Mockingbird
This book cover is one of many given to Harper Lee's classic work To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). The novel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and the next year was made into an Academy Award-winning film.
In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird serves as a powerful symbol of innocence and harmlessness. Atticus Finch teaches his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because these birds do nothing but provide music for people to enjoy; they do not eat up people's gardens or nest in corncribs.12
This metaphor is applied to characters who are vulnerable and innocent, often suffering due to the prejudice or cruelty of others:
- Tom Robinson: Following his death, the local newspaper editor compares the loss of this falsely accused man to the "senseless slaughter of songbirds," highlighting the injustice of his conviction and death.3
- Boo Radley: When the sheriff decides to protect the reclusive Boo from public scrutiny after he kills Bob Ewell in defense of the children, Scout recognizes that exposing Boo to the limelight would be "sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird," as he is a gentle soul who has only acted with benevolence.3
Ultimately, the symbol underscores the moral imperative to protect the innocent from societal malice.14