Mockingbird Motif

When I first started the summer assignment, I stared at the list of words we had to define for a while. I didn’t know what the bulk of those words meant. If you asked me what motif meant I would have only been able to tell you exactly what the dictionary said. After reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” I can now explain what a motif is in my own words. In this novel the motif is a recurring symbol that exemplifies and enhances the themes.

The two times in “To Kill a Mockingbird” where the mockingbird motif is directly referred to is with Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. The use of this motif started when Atticus told Jem and Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird after they got their toy guns. When Tom Robinson was killed Mr. Tate said that it was like the senseless killing of a songbird (mockingbird). The way Tom was an innocent being but was treated like dirt and eventually murdered. The motif was brought up again after Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell but didn’t want himself to be recognized for his deed. Scout thought that it would be kind of like killing a mockingbird to let people know that Boo was hero because he would get too much attention. The last thing Boo wanted was to be in the lime-light. She is saying that it would be like a crime to bring misery to the man.