Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
Throughout the history of literature, from Homer to Rowling, there have been characters who have suffered and died needlessly to help writers make points, develop other characters, progress a plot, or to simply serve as a metaphor for something larger.
Such characters, referred to as mockingbirds, can be benign or dangerous, but more often or not, they are victims of circumstance; other characters hold specific fears, hatred, jealousy, or contempt for these mockingbirds, leading to the eventual destruction of the target. Such is the case regarding Tom Robinson in Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird, Cinna in Shakespeares Julius Caesar, and Lennie in Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. These mockingbirds die to further their respective authors plots and to teach the audience about the tragedy in killing a mockingbird.
Tom Robinson, a strong, kind, and hard working black man in To Kill a Mockingbird unwittingly makes the mistake of assisting Mayella Ewell in various chores; this lead to her developing a crush on Tom, eventually causing her to rape (in a sense) him, with a kiss. Following a savage beating from her drunken and ignorant father, Bob Ewell, Tom is accused and convicted of raping Mayella, eventually resulting in his death.
Tom pitied Mayella, for he knew that she was basically alone in her filthy house (regardless of her siblings and lousy father); being a gentle soul, Tom reached out to Mayella and tried to make her life more tolerable by doing some simple tasks for her. His biggest mistake was to take pity on Mayella, as this was unacceptable to the social code of Maycomb in the 1930s; blacks, regardless of their good intentions and clean living, were considered less than whites, even lowly white families like the Ewells. His good deeds were his beautiful mockingbird songs, and even though it was a sin to do so, the jury of the Maycomb Court convicted a crippled man (physically incapable of doing the crime) of forcibly raping a young white girl.
Lennie Small, the large, strong, and mentally delayed best friend to George Milton in Steinbecks Of Mice and Men, is another character that could best be termed a mockingbird. His downfall rests in his inability to grasp his own physical strength and proper social conduct (he strokes a womans dress and anothers hair, unintentionally killing the second). In both instances, Lennie simply wants to explore his love for soft and pretty things, but those around him cannot get past his hulking size to see the childlike brain within his head; people see him as a threat, even though his heart lacks malice, and his greatest desire is to take care of bunnies on a farm, hardly the profile of a rapist/ murderer.
George knows that Lennie is much too tender to go through the savagery that awaits him for killing Curleys Wife, so George kills the mockingbird of Lennie, putting a bullet in the back of his head after a moving discussion of their utopian dreams of owning their own land. Lennies status as a mockingbird is complicated, due to his committing a murder, but his feeble mind and tender heart coupled with his tragic end fit the bill.
In the case of Cinna in Shakespeares Julius Caesar, Cinna is not a major character in the story, yet he fits the criterion of a mockingbird. Cinnas only purpose in ancient Rome, and in Shakespeares story, in to provide the world with beautiful rhymes and interesting tales, i.e. the role of the poet. Shakespeare chooses to have Cinna put to death at the hands of cruel and indifferent citizens who kill him simply because his name is Cinna.
He is mistaken for Cinna the Conspirator (against Caesar), but even after shouting out that he is Cinna the Poet, they decide to kill him anyway. Shakespeare uses Cinna in this instance to show the cruel indifference of mob mentality; when blood is in the air, the wolves become enraged! It would seem that Shakespeare may be attempting humor in this instance, nevertheless Cinna is clearly a mockingbird sacrificed to show the savagery of a mob.
Whether it is in the days of Shakespearean England, the racist deep South of the 1930s, or California in the 1920s, the mockingbird is a poignant device employed by all types of writers to make points, both subtle and obvious. Atticus Finch, Jem and Scouts father, tells his children, and the reader, of the reasons why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, for they do nothing but sing all day. Cinna and Tom both fit this description, Cinnas song being his poems and Toms being his selfless good deeds for others. Lennies song is a bit less vocal; his song is the repeated desire to take care of bunnies with George as they tend their own land.
As is often the case in nature, and in literature, such mockingbirds are simply the victims of outside circumstances or of a world that is incapable, either by choice or through ignorance, of appreciating the beautiful melodies that they give to everyone, without want of recompense.
Works Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, 1982.
Shakespeare, William. Tragedies: Vol 2. London: Random House, 1996.
Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. New York: Penguin Books, 1993.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.