To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird a major theme is the loss of innocence. Whether from emotional abuse, racial prejudice or learning, Boo, Tom, and Scout all lose their innocence in one sense or another. The prejudice that each character endures leads to their loss. Through the responses of Boo, Tom, and Scout, Harper Lee shows how each character responded differently to their loss of innocence.

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird the character of Boo Radley is the first to suffer the loss of his innocence. As a teen, Boo experienced trouble with the law and for his consequences his father imprisoned him in his own house. Because of the harsh consequences forced upon him by his father, Boo grew up without a real life and lived like a prisoner in his own home. One quote from the novel specifically says that the neighbors noted," The doors of the Radley house were closed on weekdays as well as Sundays..."(15). By locking Boo inside his house and denying him the chance to live a normal life, Mr. Radley crushed Boo's child like innocence. Boo's response to his loss of innocence was to continue to live as a recluse even after his father had passed on. From the time he was a teenager, Boo was never seen outside his house even though at the time the story takes place he is middle aged. Although Boo could have come out after his father died, the effects of his treatment by his father caused him to remain a recluse. Boo Radley's response to his loss of innocence caused him to appear as a creepy individual to the community and to Scout and Jem in particular.

Also in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird the character of Tom Robinson loses his innocence and responds to it in an entirely different way. In Tom's case the situation which caused him to lose his innocence was an accusation of rape by Bob and Mayella Ewell. Once Tom had been accused, it was almost as if he had been convicted for a crime that he never even committed and with that conviction came a total loss of innocence. Before the case even begins, Scout asks Atticus if he can win the case for Tom, but when he responds by saying no, Scout is surprised because she does not yet understand the racial prejudice that has convicted Tom before the trial can even occur. With the racial tension so high during this time period, Tom's innocence was lost before he could even defend himself. This was shown through Atticus's reply to Scout's question of, "Will we win?" Atticus answered no because the case was lost before it began. Tom Robinson's response to his loss of innocence was to simply run away from the problem that had befallen him. For his attempted escape Tom suffered the highest consequence, "They shot him,' said Atticus. 'He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over" (235). Due to Tom's decision on how to respond, he was killed even though he was placed in his position no thanks to himself. Tom Robinson chose poorly when it came to his response towards his loss of innocence and it cost him his life.

The main character of the novel, Scout, was the only character that suffered a loss of innocence and responded in a way that did not ruin her life. During the novel Scout gradually lost her innocence due to the fact of her ever-increasing knowledge of the world. Being the child that she was, Scout had a kind of blind faith in her community that it was as good and as moral as she