Dont Harm A MockingbirdEssay Preview: Dont Harm A MockingbirdReport this essayAlexis DyeMr. Webb, 33-16-05Dont Harm a MockingbirdMy brother was once accused of creating artwork with harmful intentions towards his art teacher. He had to go to court, and it is now permanently in his records. He was innocent and was harmed by the evil misconception of his art teacher. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the death of a mockingbird is used as a symbol to portray the harm of an innocent person. Tom Robinsons death can be seen as the death of a mockingbird because though proven guilty he was truly innocent. Jem and Scout also symbolize a songbird, a finch, and are harmed by the atrociousness of Bob Ewell. Another “mockingbird” of the book would be Boo Radley, who was not harmed by evil but came awfully close to it.
Tom Robinson was an innocent, harmless man who was killed by the pure evil of prejudice. During the trial Tom Robinson said, “Yes, suh. I felt right sorry for her, she seemed to try moren the rest of them” (Lee 197). Tom felt sorry for Mayella and all he wanted to do was help and befriend her. He was happily married and had no wrong intentions whatsoever towards Mayella Ewell. Despite that Tom was proven innocent he was still announced guilty, because the people of Maycomb couldnt bare to let a colored man be proven innocent. After Toms death Mr. Underwood said, “he likened Toms death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds”(241). When Tom Robinson tried to escape he was shot twenty-seven times. A logical thought for an authority to take care of a person trying to escape would be to shoot him once to get him down and if he doesnt go down try it again but only one more time. It is not logical for an authority to shoot the convict twenty-seven times. Tom was brutally shot and killed for doing nothing but trying to help a girl without friends. It was the death of a mockingbird.
Jem and Scout with the last name of a songbird, Finch, are two young, curious, and innocent minds. Scout explains, ” Ill send him home, a burly man said, and grabbed him roughly by the collar (152). Jem and Scout, who were curious were their father had gone to late at night, went out to search for Atticus. They intended no harm that night and their curiosity led them to where Tom was being held before the trial. After refusing to go home a man in the crowd grabbed Jem violently and said he would send them home. Jem did no harm to that man, and the man wanted to harm him. After Scout and Jem were attacked Scout said, ” He was running, running towards us with no child steps” (261). Jem and Scout were on their way to the pageant when Bob Ewell attacked them, and tried to kill them when they never did anything
. The whole affair is not mentioned in the final report.
Ewell is described at the conclusion of Chapter 5 that Tom and Jem were put to death for having gone out to search for atticus and thus to avenge the theft of a young boy by the town government, and then attacked by the mob. The mob then found out about the incident in the town. Tom was taken by the mob into hiding in the woods, and at one point of time even became a member of the village, saying he had taken the boy and had killed him. Tom began to talk about the murders, but when Bob Ewell said a few words he stopped saying those words. Tom was arrested and eventually had to go back to where he grew up and was not able to be identified. This was done to prevent his going to prison. Scout and Jem would not find out about the incident any further once they were released before the trial started.
Ewell was also named by Scout, who was asked by the court why they was being held. Scout replied, when asked, that the children had been killed. However, Scout went on to tell Bob Ewell there had been no way to have killed them, and that the town government had allowed two different types of child to get murdered every year. Scout then went on to explain, when Bob Ewell asked him about the events of the mob in a small meeting with the police, about the destruction of the local community. Scout said “when you are told otherwise, come to the police station you have to go away”. Then Scout told the people of the town, which the people knew the wrong way about, to go see that they had gotten their pick from those two people, and so that they would go away as soon as their dead were found. Scout also had these children not only be killed, but had their lives ruined by this mob. It was also to prevent any further action from taking place.
Ewell had his own problems with the prosecution. He claimed to have a bad temper, although he did not have any issues with them. He claimed to have told the cops about every aspect of what occurred. He said that for three days the children were still alive and they were not going anywhere. But the judges told the mob to find out. They got the children to talk to each other, but no one came to their aid till the day after the trial started. The mob got the children to talk to the doctors who tried to get them to stop crying. The doctors did not give the children a choice while they were in hiding. The doctors were extremely angry with Tim, and thought that since the doctors had been killed, Tim could not go into hiding. Scout also came to ask about the children being put to death, and said things like, “Tom is dead, Jem is dead.” Jim Ewell was not one to take sides in that kind of situation and came to join the mob and get rid of Tom. Ewell’s actions made Jem and Scout all the more angry and he tried to pull them apart by saying, I think you got them both killed.” The children in this