Eng 10 Ap - to Kill a Mockinbird Essay

Brianna Pynn

Hughes

English 10 AP

November 27, 2015

“To Kill a Mockingbird”, By Harper Lee

Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, is set in the Deep South in Maycomb, Alabama around the 1930’s. The author enhances the significance of her title to symbolize Boo Radley, Tom Robinson and Mayella Ewell to being “mockingbirds”. Mockingbirds are gentle harmless creatures that “sing their hearts out”; therefore Atticus Finch proclaims it “a sin to kill a mockingbird”. Unfortunately, three innocent souls were prosecuted by society and suffer a great deal of punishment for actions or crimes they did not commit.

Boo Radley was an innocent, kind-hearted man who was accused of crimes he did not commit. The town of Maycomb ridiculed and alienated Boo to his home because he failed to meet the town’s standards. Although Boo was isolated with no one to speak to, he still found a way to sustain his generosity by providing gifts for the children in the knot hole, draping a blanket over Scout’s shoulders when she was standing outside in the cold, and most important, saving the children’s lives when Bob Ewell attacked them on their journey home from the Christmas concert. Boo was prosecuted by society because of Maycomb’s prejudice, sending Boo to live a lonely life until the day he die.

Tom Robinson was also an innocent, harmless man who was executed for a crime he did not commit. Tom was a loving; caring father and husband who wanted to make the best for his family. “He was always a hard worker”, and he would offer a helping hand on the days he did not work. Tom was genuinely concerned for Mayella’s wellbeing even though she was white. Mayella took advantage of that generosity and invited Tom in her house for more work, or so she implied, but really she just wanted someone to love her. Keeping the theme of the munificent mockingbird, Tom does not make any effort to physically push Mayella off of him, but chooses to flee and not harm Mayella in any way. Despite being convinced of his innocence, the jurors decide that Tom is guilty. “When it’s a white man’s word over a black man’s word, the white man always wins” and it did. Tom went to prison, and then later died trying to escape so he could return to his family. A racist public reasoned that Tom’s death was a result of a “typical nigger cut and run”, which all leads back to a prejudice society.