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Why Is Tom Robinson A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird

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“Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”(Lee 119 ) To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee about two young kids named Scout and Jem who live in the town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Maycomb is a town infected with racism like much of the south in that time, but it is also a quiet town where nothing really happens. That is until Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused by the Ewell’s, a white family, of raping their daughter. As Tom’s trial occurs, a chain of events is set into place that teaches Scout and Jem about the harsh reality of innocent people who fall victim to circumstance. That is why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds symbolize innocent people who are hurt by evil, and it is a sin to hurt innocent people.

Boo Radley is one of the main examples of a symbolic mockingbird in this novel. Boo Radley is abused by his father as a child, which makes him different because he is …show more content…

Tom Robinson is wrongly accused of rape, and is then tried and found guilty in court. Afterward Tom ends up getting killed for trying to escape, but is instead likely lynched by the people of Maycomb. Scout narrates that, “He[Mr.Underwood] likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children...” (Chapter 25 Lee). Because Tom is wrongly accused and never actually hurt Mayella, but is only trying to help her, Mr. Underwood accurately compared his death to the killing of a mockingbird. Again Tom is just trying help Mayella, and just like Boo is trying to bring joy to the kids, but also like Boo, is hurt by some sort of evil. He even ended up getting killed because of it. This is why Tom is like the senseless killing of songbirds, or mockingbirds. Because like mockingbirds, Tom is only trying to bring joy, but ends up being killed exactly like the senseless killing of

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