to kill a mockingbird
...before stopping him, Mr. Ewell is rumored to have said “one down, two to go”. He is, we later learn, referring to Jem and Scout. There is also another type of prejudice that exists within the text of To Kill a Mockingbird. It is particularly exhibited by Jem and Scout’s Aunt Alexandra. She says that poor folks such as the Cunningham’s are lower class. So low she says, that if they were relatives of the Finches, they would not associate with such people. Alexandra prides herself and her family on having such a strong background and coming from such a privileged family. Jem later reveals to Scout that background has nothing to do with it, it is just as long as your family has been reading an writing that is key. The title of Miss Lee’s novel is in fact a reference to something that the wiser-than-his-years Atticus Finch tells his children. He says that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they “don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us”. The killing of a mockingbird, a creature that harbor’s only good intents, can be applied to several characters in the novel. Tom Robinson was a good kind man who had never harmed a soul. However, guilt, hatred, and bigotry lead to his murder. Boo Radley is another instance in which the author applies this metaphor. After Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout coming home from the Halloween pageant, Boo in turn assaults him; stabbing him in the ribs and killing him. When Atticus figures out that Boo had done it and that Sheriff Tate is not going to prosecute him, he tries to explain the situation to Scout. However, Scout is already more aware of the circumstances than Atticus thinks, and says th...