Don't attack something if it hasn't harmed you. This lesson is taught to Jem and Scout by Atticus when he teaches them about the mockingbird. He says that the mockingbird is innocent and only sings for you and does nothing at all to hurt or affect mankind. It is therefore wrong to kill it...The main example of the mockingbird within the novel is Tom Robinson. Tom was attacked by the entire white society in Maycomb County. These attacks and accusations destroyed his innocent, respectable life. The following essay analyses the trial chapters and points out how Harper Lee brings across this message to her readers. The writer clearly states the difference between the blacks and the whites; she does this by initially telling us small details. For an example, the black people in the society live on the edge of town; this shows the readers that the blacks live on the edge, the most inferior part of Maycomb. The way she writes shows us the moral of the story, "Shoot all the Blue jays you want if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mocking bird." This moral is shown through the black people, making them the mocking birds. The trial covers many themes: The themes evidently show all forms of prejudice, and they are all conveyed in the trial. Harper Lee uses the characters of the play to show this. Harper Lee presents to us the story of "To Kill a Mocking Bird" through the eyes of Scout Finch. The effect of doing this shows a neutral opinion of blacks and whites, if she was to view the story, say through Mayella Ewell then we would get a very one-sided story, rather then a balanced opinion that is shown through Scouts view. Scout has not been influenced by the rest of society in Maycomb, this is probably because she is so small, and is mostly influenced by her father whom is not racist. Scout shows that even though she is just a child, her judgement is not naïve as such and therefore she seems to have a better reasoning then most people in Maycomb. Another advantage of having Scout's over voice of the trial is that as she is a child, she speaks the blunt truth. Whereas having an adult's over voice would not be as affective as an adult would not be so direct and frank about the goings on in the court. During the recess, the message that Harper Lee is trying to bring across is made more powerful. She tends to use Dill as if he was the reader. Scout and Jem incline to explain the trial to Dill and make clear to him the ways of Maycomb. Dill therefore serves the purpose of helping the reader understand the trial properly. During recess both Dill ad Scout meet Dolphus, and find out that he is not really the alcoholic that he's depicted as. Dolphus says, "I try to give them a reason see. To help folks if they can latch on to a reason……It ain't honest but it's mighty helpful to folks....
