"It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing but make music for us to enjoy"{Lee 90}, this line Spoken by Atticus can sum up the heart of the novel. This was quoted from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a creative novelist. Miss Harper Lee has chosen Scout as a first person narrator in this story. This narrative technique has much strength and some weaknesses. Scout for all her intelligence, she is still a child and does not always fully understand the implications of the events she reports Scout does her best to inform us of the happenings at the Tom Robinson trial. Yet, she is not certain what rape is, and is neither aware of the prejudice state surrounding her. Ultimately she represents the innocence within society. The themes of To kill a mockingbird all revolve around Scout.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout Finch, a little girl growing up in a small Southern town, tells the story of her childhood, when she witnessed the trial of a Negro falsely accused of raping a white woman. The Negro's lawyer is Scout's father, Atticus Finch. He defends the Negro vigorously, though he expects to lose the case. As well as being the story of childhood, it is also the stor

parishioners are supporting Tom Robinson's wife. Her childhood believe that everyone has the right to go to church changed when Lulu's mouth opened. "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here-they got their church, we got our'n..."{Lee 119}.

Many times during the course of the novel the idea of the mockingbird comes to mind. We first hear of the bird when the children are given their first air rifles for Christmas, There father warns them to never shoot the songbird, saying to do so

Scout finds a roly-poly in chapter 25. In answer to Scout's desire to kill the bug, Jem says, "Because they don't bother you..." (241). At this second stage, Jem, not yet Scout has understood Atticus' holy words. The last depiction is in the final chapters of the book. This "Mockingbird" is Arthur "Boo" Radley. Boo ends up to save both Jem and Scout's lives, by killing Bob Ewell. At this final stage in the book, Scout, as well as

would be a sin. During the trial of Tom Robinson, it occurs to the reader that the Negro has many characteristics he shares with the mockingbird, He is a gentleman, who has never harmed anyone and only tried to help. His murder is as much a sin as the

The sheriff decides to file a report that Bob fell on his own knife and died, thus sparing Boo the publicity that would be sure to follow.

killing of any innocent creature. By the end of the novel we see that the hermit Boo Radley is also like the mockingbird. He is shy and gentle, living quietly and harming no one. Near the end of the novel, Boo saves the children from being killed. Scout

revenge on Atticus through his children. He follows the children down a dark street and tries to kill them. It is none other than Boo Radley, who had seen the attack from his window. Boo stabs Bob Ewell to death, and carries the wounded Jem home.

Two nights before the trial is to start, a group of men come to the Finch house to tell Atticus about threats against Tom Robinson's life. Atticus spends the next night camped out at the jail to defend Tom from the mob. Jem, Scout and Dill go downtown to check on Atticus and arrive at the same time as a group of men, who have come to kill Tom. Scout recognizes one of the men in the group as Walter Cunningham. Her friendliness embarrasses the man so much that he and the mob leave.

The last incident, which brings Scout to adulthood, is when she and Jem are brought safely home from their attacker by Boo. She finally has the courage to stand on the Radley porch, and the kids are no longer afraid of Boo Radley. They now understand him. "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird.""...don't 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" (Lee 94).

Some common words found in the essay are:
Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, Jem Scout, Kill Mockingbird, Scout Jem, Tom Robinson's, Bob Ewell, Tim Johnson, Scout Boo, Jews OK, tom robinson, kill mockingbird, boo radley, jem scout, scout jem, bob ewell, enjoy don't eat, scout realizes, skin walk, father atticus, white woman, eat people's gardens, people's gardens don't, don't eat people's, gardens don't nest,
Approximate Word count = 1935
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)