Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

Innocence is a fragile aspect of life, where it could be easily broken by anyone or anything. Everyone was brought into this world with innocence, but one can easily lose it. How? Racism, prejudice, and hatred is taught—however, some may not be affected by these cruel influences. These types of people can be referred to as mockingbirds, who "don't do one thing except make music for us to enjoy." Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the literary elements that were used to identify childlike innocence were the use of metaphors, characters, and morals, that relates to the theme of racism and pure innocence.
The use of metaphors can convey hidden messages, deeper than the text has shown. "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember
In chapter 15, Scout finds herself standing in front an angry mob capable of hurting Atticus and Tom Robinson. Even if she does not understand the danger of the situation, she innocently starts talking to Mr. Cunningham about his interests, such as his son Walter. She believes that all she is doing is having a friendly conversation with her Mr. Cunningham, which she believes is her friend. This caused Mr. Cunningham to back down, due to him not wanting to be rude to her kind gesture. Jem and Dill share some innocence as well, but being broken when introduced to the court case. In chapters 19 and 22, you see Jem and Dill crying about the misfortunes of the case. Jem cries due to the fact that Atticus had real evidence, yet the jury chose to be biased and voted an innocent man guilty, only because they had relationships with the Ewells. Dill cries because of how mistreated Mr. Robinson is, only because of his skin. He finds this unfair on how the opposing lawyer treats the Ewells with respect since they are white, but not Robinson since he is black. Lastly, Boo Radley shows a great amount of innocence in the beginning and the ending of the book. Though even being criticized by the town, he still looks out for Scout and Jem. He left them treasures in the tree for them to enjoy, gave Scout a blanket when freezing cold, and saved Jem and Scout’s life when Mr. Ewell was after
In the beginning, the Finch kids believe that the quiet town they lived in contained good people who lived life the way Atticus taught them. Although, that image is crushed when discovering things are far from their expectations. For example, they are of course disappointed with the outcome of the trial, for they knew that they were in the right and the jury was in the wrong. As a result, you can see Jem having an emotional breakdown after witnessing the realities of inequality, racism, and unfairness, for he no longer believes that there were good in any of these people. Though, Scout still being too young to understand, still believes that everyone has a little bit of good in them. Though, towards the end of the story, they both are exposed to true evil of the world when Mr. Ewell attacked the both of them, severely injuring Jem. Although, pure innocence and goodness could be found within Boo Radley, where he saves them both. In conclusion, the literary elements that were used to identify childlike innocence were the use of metaphors, characters, and morals. Innocence was once found in everyone, but some people lose it while they grow up. Being exposed to hatred, racism, and unfairness can cause one to leave their innocence behind, grow up, and see the true realities of the real world. Thought Jem was impacted harshly of the realities, Scout is still far too young to understand everything that has happened.