How Does Boo Radley Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

In Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird is a symbol of something or someone being harmed when that person or thing doesn’t deserve it. These people are harmed from things others have done, and it takes their innocence away from them. Many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird can be symbolized as human mockingbirds. A few instances of Mockingbirds that were used by Harper Lee is Jem Finch, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson, their innocence was removed from them by the actions of others. First, Harper Lee uses Jem as a symbol of a mockingbird. “Jem suddenly grinned at him. “Come on home to dinner with us, Walter,” he said. “We’d be glad to have you.” Walter’s face brightened, then darkened. Jem said,
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“Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.” “Thank who?” I asked. “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (96) During the winter in this book, Miss Maudie's house catches fire, which leads to the Finches going outside. Boo Radley helps Scout stay warm by putting a blanket around her. Therefore, this shows that Boo really isn’t a monster like everyone thinks and that his intentions are to be kind to people. Just like the others in this paper, Boo’s innocence is taken from him. “Before he went inside the house, he stopped in front of Boo Radley. “Thank you for my children, Arthur,” he said.” (370) This interaction happened just moments after Bob Ewell tried to kill Atticus’s children, and Atticus realizes that Boo Radley was the one who saved his children from him. Boo Radley was the one who killed Bob Ewell. In doing this, he saw how crooked the people in the world are.
In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many instances of human mockingbirds, but the most important ones are Jem Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. With all of the characters who are mockingbirds, their innocence was taken away from them. These characters were pure, full of goodness, and weren’t taken advantage of and stripped of their innocence until the trial. If this book took place now, in the time period we are living in, would these character’s innocence remain intact? Could the outcome of Tom Robinson’s trial been