This quotation that serves as the basis for the title of
the novel first appears in Chapter 10 of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Scout questions Miss Maudie about it, remembering that Atticus had once told Jem (after
receiving air rifles as Christmas presents) that
readability="6">"I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back
yard, but I know you'll go after
birds."Scout tells Maudie
that it was "the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something..."
Maudie explains that Atticus is right. Mockingbirds are harmless, innocent creatures
that have no negative characteristics. Unlike blue jays and other birds, mockingbirds
only make music for people to enjoy.readability="8">"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."According to Atticus and
Maudie, mockingbirds are one of God's fragile creatures that bring only happiness to
humans and should be protected, rather than persecuted. This symbolism eventually
transcends into the human mockingbirds of the story, such as Tom and
Boo.
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