To Kill A MockingbirdBY: AFSAR THALAKOLA

Symbolism• Tom Robinson is symbolized as a mockingbird in the book. Atticus tells Jem and Scout

never to shoot a mockingbird because they have never done anything bad to you except sing. The Mockingbird in this book has an indirect meaning, it is symbolized as innocence. Innocence is the major theme in this book because all of the plot lines are connected to it (Tom’s loss of innocence when accused of rape, or Scout’s loss of innocence when she grows up and matures. Jem, Tom Robinson, Dill, Boo Radley, and Mr. Raymond can be symbolized by mockingbirds because they were hurt by the evils of their time ( The Great Depression, and Racism). "I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the

back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.

“Your father's right," she said. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but 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.“ ~Atticus Finch (98)

Character Traits

TOM ROBINSON

• Tom Robinson is falsely accused in the trial because of segregation in the 1930’s. This causes Tom to not be respected by the majority of the white community and him to die.

• This quote explains the importance of innocent minds in our society. Atticus explains how courts would be if children ran them. Tom Robinson would be innocent because any mind unaffected by race or money would plainly see that he wasn't guilty.

• "If you had been on that jury , son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man," said Atticus. "So far nothing in your life has interfered with your reasoning process. Those are twelve reasonable men in everyday life, Tom's jury, but you saw something come between them and reasoning. You saw the same thing that night in front of the jail. When that crew went away, they didn't go as reasonable men, they went because we were there. There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn't be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it's a white man's word against a black man's, the white man always wins. they're ugly, but those are the facts of life."                                            ~Atticus (295)

Tom is dead, because he was unfairly accused and prosecuted because the jury was consisted of white men who were biased in favor of the prosecutor. When he was proclaimed guilty, he was put in prison. When he attempted to escape, he was shot and killed.

This quote is a constant reminder on how unfair and bias the jury is in this small town. They try and act like they're being fair but everyone knows Tom doesn't have a chance.

"Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed."                                            

~Mr. Underwood (323)

Color & Representations

TOM ROBINSON

Color

The color that represents Tom Robinson is black because him and his community are “negroes” or blacks.

Atticus, in this quote, is basically telling the jury that, whether Tom Robinson raped Mayella Ewell or not, they would convict him guilty just because he's black. Bob Ewell and Mayella Ewell are both white, giving them the upper hand. In this community, white people think the same about all black people- they are lesser than them in every way.

"The witnesses for the state, with the exception of the sheriff of Maycomb County, have presented themselves to you gentlemen, to this court, in the cynical confidence that their testimony would not be doubted, confident that you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption- the evil assumption- that all Negros lie, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women, an assumption one associates with minds of their caliber."                 ~Atticus ( 273)

Black

The Trial of Tom Robinson

• Tom Robinson is involved in two of the three plot lines. The first plot line is the Trial in which he in the defendent. He is falsely accused of rape when Bob Ewell catches him in his home with Mayella.

• The second plot line is the coming of age; or loosing your innocence. Tom Robinson looses his innocence when he is accused of rape. The jury is the victim of bandwagon (a form or persuasion) so they declare Tom guilty.

"How could they do it, how could they?""I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it again tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it- seems that only children weep. Good night."                                ~Jem, Atticus (285)This quote is after the trial and it is

Jem asking Atticus how they could be so bias against Tom Robinson even though it's a jury in a court of law. Atticus explains that it's been like this since the beginning of time. The only people that are affected by this kind of racism are children because of their innocence.