Explain how the title relates to the events of the novel and the themes of To Kill A
Mockingbird.
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15 comments:
Mockingbirds, in real life, are birds that copy sounds from their surrondings. They usualy copy car honks and other daily sounds in our human world.That is why they are called "mocking bird", or a bird that copies. The word "mockingbird" in "To Kill a Mockingbird" is metaphoricaly used. I believe it means to get something someone repeats, maybe a characteristic common in a southern town such as Maycomb County.I believe this 'Mockingbird' is racism because in early 1900s, the Cucus Clan and the segregation law were still in place. Also the people thought that that African Americans were inferior, and in some places it still happens.
I think this title fits the story because Atticus is hired as an attorney to defend a black citizen who had charges (Lee 88). What Atticus is going to do will influence Scout and Jem, and maybe the whole the town. What they are going to do is "Kill the Mockingbird", in other words get rid of racism and ignorance.
To Kill a Mockingbird talks about the cruelty of racism. To describe the hearts of the racists, Lee used mockingbirds to describe the innocence of the weak people. The title of To Kill a Mockingbird is related to the characters in the book. Jem and Scout’s neighbor, Boo Radley, is a child crumbled by his father. He is an exemplary of an innocent mockingbird killed by an evil hunter that claims to be his father.
“…they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee 90)
In chapter ten, Miss Maudie explains to Scout that killing a mockingbird is a sin. Lee tries to describe to the audience that the mockingbirds and people hurt with a different race are equally innocent. In the story, the innocent mockingbirds and people are killed by hunters or racists who have an evil mind.
Maria and Jenny,
Good insight. Return to this question after you finish the book and see if you have anything else to add.
I partly agree with maria s. Mockingbirds do copy sounds that they hear. Some people in the book such as Scout, do not copy what she hears, told to do, or what other people do in Maycomb. Many of the people in Maycomb are like mockingbirds and copy what everyone else does. That is how I think that the title of the book relates to the story.
I agree with Maria and Jenny. Maria said that the mockingbirds copy what they hear and do the same thing. That is what is happening in the story. In Maycomb, everyone does what they see around them. Also, To Kill a Mockingbird is a symbol for innocence, as Jenny said. In the story the weak innocent people are being picked on such as Boo Radley. It has something to do with racism as well and people are bothering the innocent ones.
The title "To Kill a Mockingbird" related to what happens in the novel is
(1) Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are killed emotionally and physically, just like the mocking birds get killed.
(2) The Mockingbird is a very inoccent bird, just like Scout and Jem at the beginning of the story.
There are many other things that make the title relate to this novel, but these are just a few examples.
I disagree with Maria's interpretation of the title relating to the book but I agree with what Jenny is saying. In chapter 10 scout is told by Miss Maudie, that it is a sin to kill a Mockingbird because they do no harm. It seems that the Mockingbird represents Tom Robinson. He has done no wrong to the rest and is innocent. Atticus made it so clear to the jury that Tom is innocent and that Mr. Ewell was the one that actually beat his daughter. But even if Mr. Ewell were to have confessed that he beat Mayella, the jury would have announced Tom as guilty. This is why the book would be called "To Kill a Mockingbird". Because Tom has done no harm, and still he is announced guilty and even shot at later on.
The actual definition of what Mockingbirds are is:
n.
Any of several species of New World birds of the family Mimidae, especially Mimus polyglottos, a gray and white bird of the southern and eastern United States, noted for the ability to mimic the sounds of other birds.
taken from:http://www.answers.com/topic/mockingbird
The metaphorical meaning of the word and meaning of what a "Mockingbird is" as used in this story represent many, many things. The Mockingbird on TkaM represents: Racism, inequality, Tom Robinson, etc.
The Mockingbird represents Racism because in the South many people teach their kids how to be racist or kids just imitated racism against those who weren't black. As explained in the definition i gave earlier a mockingbird is a bird that "imitates" other sounds or songs, so do the kids as in the matter of racism.
The Mockingbird to represents inequality because people are unfair to others because everyone else is. The people that were not Racist or unfair were called n**** lovers, outcasts, etc. To avoid being called these things people would copy others just like a Mockingbird does.
The Mockingbird also represents Tom because of Miss Maudie's comment. She emphasized that killing a mockingbird is a "sin" because "they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us." lee 90. Tom did not do one crime and was accused and tried for one that was capital all he did was work his "heart out for us". All of the above is why a Mockingbird represents tom because they both do or did no harm to society and are/were still killed.
in response to Yannick's comment.
Yannick,
I completely agree with you in the fact of hoe Tom is represented. he did no harm a§d neither o mockingbirds and tom was still tried and accused of raping Mayela.
I agree with what Jenny said about the relationship between the title of the book and the story. Since it is during the 1900s, and also in the South, it is obvious that there is going to be descrimination and racism. The title of the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" is that innocent people who did not commit any crime are being accused of doing something, just like Jenny explained. In this case, Boo Radley is the mockingbird who is being blamed by the people for doing something wrong just because of the rumors that had been spread around about him. It explains how a mockingbird is killed by people for no reason. It is the same thing in this case.
The title To Kill a Mockingbird has more than one meaning. In this book, there are two mockingbirds. One of them is Tom Robinson. Tom is Jem's mockingbird metaphorically because Jem has hope, hope that Tom Robinson will not be seen as guitly. Atticus told Jem it was a sin to kill a mockingbird. When Tom was killed, Jem felt lost all of his hope, because they had murdered someone innocent, and his hope was lost.
Boo Radley is Scout's mockingbird. Scout is sure that the stereotypes are not true about him. He is not crazy, but he is very nice and kind. When Scout meets Boo, he is what she expected, nice and kind, she is glad, and continues to have faith and hope.
In real life, mockingbirds are gentle birds who never do any harm to people in any way. Yet, they are always blamed for things, stereotypes and often killed for no reason. Most other birds destroy gardens and eat flowers and think only of themselves. This title does not refer literally to a mockingbird. It refers to characters in the story. Tom Robinson is an excellent example of the story. He never did any harm to anybody and yet, in the end he was shot and killed. The only thing he ever did was work for people even if they were bad. Another example of a mockingbird was Boo Radley. He is a fellow that nobody knows about. Every time we hear about him in the story, he is criticized and stereotyped in every sort of negative way.
Atticus mentioned that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. This means that it is wrong to kill a person who has never done anything to you. Bob Ewell did this. He blamed Tom Robinson for something that he did and did not care a bit.
I disagree with maria S on how a mockingbird is used in they story. It is mentioned by Atticus that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. Miss Maudie supports this by saying that a mockingbird never does anything to anybody and only brings joy by singing. Yet, people still try to kill it just for the fun of it. For instance, Bob Ewell blames his actions to his daughter on Tom Robinson. Tom has never done anything bad to anyone. He simply works to earn a living and never bothers anyone. What Bob Ewell did was kill him (not literally but metaphorically). He sent him to jail and did not care. That is what the title actually means.
I agree with Andy because Bob Ewell blamed it on Tom because of his skin color. Bob is a very racist man, and is trying to get "free" of the crime HE commited himself. Beating up his own child after seeing her kiss an African-American.
Andy, Bob did kill him, if he had not put the blame on Tom, he would not be on jail, which would not lead to Tom trying to escape, which would not lead to his death. I was dissapointed with this because although it was OBVIOUS Tom was innocent, nobody did anything, and nothing could have been done, because of his skin color.
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