To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Example
Dominique Lozano Lozano 1
English: Block 1
4/24/12
Ms. Brooks
Death of Innocence “We are not supposed to go out and kill all those we suspect to have committed a crime.” (Bianca Jagger). In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the reader discovers many characters that could symbolize the mockingbird. The mockingbird symbolizes Tom Robinson because he was innocent yet found guilty and wrongfully killed.
Tom is infallibly innocent however due to the prejudice mind set of the people in Maycomb he is found guilty. It is clearly visible that Tom is above suspicion when Atticus states “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.” (Lee, 203). In this quote Atticus is conveying to the jury that Tom had not committed the crime he is accused of. The quote shows the innocence of Tom which is in direct correlation with the innocence of the mockingbird. Unfortunately prejudice clouds the mind of the jury preventing the revealing of Tom’s guiltlessness. This ugly truth is uncovered when the reader hears the jury’s verdict “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson.” (Lee, 211). This quote is Lozano 2 communicating to the reader that the jury has found Tom Robinson guilty of raping Mayella. The underlying reason for Tom’s so called guilt is not because he’s truly guilty but because he is an African-American man
English: Block 1
4/24/12
Ms. Brooks
Death of Innocence “We are not supposed to go out and kill all those we suspect to have committed a crime.” (Bianca Jagger). In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee the reader discovers many characters that could symbolize the mockingbird. The mockingbird symbolizes Tom Robinson because he was innocent yet found guilty and wrongfully killed.
Tom is infallibly innocent however due to the prejudice mind set of the people in Maycomb he is found guilty. It is clearly visible that Tom is above suspicion when Atticus states “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence has not only been called into serious question on cross-examination, but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. The defendant is not guilty, but somebody in this courtroom is.” (Lee, 203). In this quote Atticus is conveying to the jury that Tom had not committed the crime he is accused of. The quote shows the innocence of Tom which is in direct correlation with the innocence of the mockingbird. Unfortunately prejudice clouds the mind of the jury preventing the revealing of Tom’s guiltlessness. This ugly truth is uncovered when the reader hears the jury’s verdict “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson.” (Lee, 211). This quote is Lozano 2 communicating to the reader that the jury has found Tom Robinson guilty of raping Mayella. The underlying reason for Tom’s so called guilt is not because he’s truly guilty but because he is an African-American man