Mockingbird Motif

Reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" has enhanced my understanding of the word motif because, "To Kill a Mockingbird" has such a well exemplified motif. The "Mockingbird" motif is basically the idea that, to harm or mistreat something that has never hurt anyone else is one of the worst things you can do. This book is called "To Kill a Mockingbird" because this motif is based on the idea that a mockingbird has never done anything to hurt anyone, so to kill it is a sin.

This idea has many examples to back it up through out the book. One example is when Bob Ewell tries to kill Jem and Scout, Jem and Scout are completely innocent and have never harmed anyone so they represent mockingbirds and to kill them would be unimaginable. Another example is the idea to put Boo Radley up for trail after living peacefully in his house for years and only committing a crime to defend innocent children. Both of these examples of the Mockingbird motif specifically represent the theme of innocence in the book and how fragile it can be at times when other people don't understand how much it should be cherished.