Let's Not Kill Mockingbirds :D

As the novel opened, two reoccurring themes stuck out to me: community and the innocence of youth. In chapter 1, Scout describes her small town Maycomb as a place where “there was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County” (pg 6). Right away, not only was I able to capture a mental picture of Maycomb, but I was also able to feel the strong sense of community within Maycomb. Maycomb in my mind was a small southern town, where each person knew one another and news spread so rapidly, no secrets could be kept. The town kept tradition and held on to rumors and myths, such as the story of secluded Boo Radley. In chapter 8, neighbor Miss Maudie’s house catches on fire and despite how late at night it was, “the men of Maycomb, in all degrees of dress and underdress, took furniture from Miss Maudie’s house to a yard across the street” (pg.92). The citizens of Maycomb all came together to help a neighbor in need; there is no better word to describe Maycomb than community.

Just like children today, Jem, Scout, and Dill are oblivious to the reasons behind controversies and communal problems, all they know is what they are told. They are simply too young to understand. In chapter 6, Jem, Scout, and Dill “were going to peep in the window with the loose shutter to see if they could get a look at Boo Radley” (pg. 69). The children’s innocent curiosities drive them to commit daring acts. In chapter 9, aggressive Scout defends her father, Atticus by fighting classmate, Cecil Jacobs, for saying that Atticus, “defends niggers” (pg. 99). Scout later questions Atticus about defending Negroes and Scout is still puzzled by why her father supports blacks. Scout is ignorant of the societal problems between blacks and whites and all she knows is to defend her father.

Chapter 10 is the source of the book’s title To Kill a Mockingbird in this quote: “’Mockingbirds do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (pg. 119).
The quote tells of how killing a mockingbird is a grave sin because they give us nothing but joy. This can tied to people: there are times when the nicest people who have shown nothing but kindness are oppressed because others feel they are unimportant or inadequate. Biblically, killing a mockingbird can be tied to Jesus Christ. Jesus was a loving, peaceful man, but He was crucified for preaching moral and upright virtues like kindness and compassion. When Jesus was put to death, it was similar to killing a mockingbird; both are innocent and deserve more than what they get.

So far, To Kill a Mockingbird has brought me down memory lane to the adventures of my youth. Just like Scout, I was an adventurous, daring child. The novel brought me back to the times where the only worry on my mind was what was for dinner and where playing outside was an every day occasion.