Why is the title of the book To Kill a Mockingbird?

Question

Please do not give me any spoilers.

What is the significance of this title? I am currently reading this book, but I am not done yet. I have read the first 1/3 of it.

Answer 1

Somewhere in the book, Atticus tells his kids that they can "shoot all the bluejays you want," but "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." The reason for this is that mockingbirds hurt nobody, they only sing for us and bring us pleasure. I won't give away plot details, but later in the novel there will be innocent people that become victims, like a mockingbird being killed.

Answer 2

All a mockingbird ever does is to sing and make pretty music; they don't peck holes in your house or eat your crops or anything. So "To Kill A Mockingbird" is to attack something harmless and innocent, that can't defend itself, the way Boo Radley is attacked. That's why at the end they don't want to say he was involved, because of all the attention he'll get and how he'll be harassed when he was only being good. It also applies to other things in the book.

Answer 3

The title of the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a key to some themes of the novel. The title is first explained in Chapter 10, at the time that Scout and Jem Finch have just received air rifles for Christmas. Atticus tells his children that it is a sin to shoot a mockingbird. Later Miss Maudie explains to the children what Atticus meant: Mockingbirds are harmless creatures who do nothing but sing for our enjoyment. Therefore, it is very wrong to harm them.

It is easy to see that the "mockingbird" in this story is Tom Robinson- a harmless man who becomes a victim of racial prejudice. Like the mockingbird, Tom has never done wrong to anyone. Even the jurors who sentence him to death have nothing personal against him. They find him guilty mostly because they feel that to take the word of a black man over two whites would threaten the system they live under, the system of segregation. Tom himself is guilty of nothing but being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is possible that the mockingbird of the title has more than one meaning. Today mockingbirds live in many northern states, but only a few decades ago mockingbirds lived principally in the southeastern United States. Like the mint julep or the song "Dixie," the mockingbird symbolized the southern way of life- a culture that emphasized good manners, family background, and a relaxed, unhurried pace of living. Unfortunately, another aspect of this way of life was racial segregation, a system that had been tolerated for decades by many southerners who knew in their hearts that it was morally wrong.

By the time this novel was written perceptive southerners could see that the opportunity for them to take the lead in ending segregation was already past. The civil rights movement, led by blacks and supported by whites in other parts of the country, was not only ending segregation, it was transforming the politics and class structure that southerners had taken for granted for decades.
Although most readers think of To Kill a Mockingbird as a novel about racial prejudice, you will notice that the mockingbird theme does not apply only to victims of this form of discrimination. Boo Radley, the eccentric recluse, is another "harmless creature" who becomes a victim of cruelty. Here again, the author seems to be emphasizing the universality of human nature. Tom Robinson's problems may be bound up with the complex social problem of racial prejudice, but any neighborhood can have its Boo Radley, all but forgotten except as the subject of gossip and rumor."

Answer 4

The significance will become clear but it stems from what the father says to the girl about killing mocking birds. To kill a mocking bird is a shame because all they do is sing their hearts out. The true significance of that statement becomes clear at the end but it will spoil the story for you if you hear it now. It's a fabulous book. Enjoy reading it.

Answer 5

Atticus tells his children that they can "shoot all the bluejays you want," but "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." The idea here is that while jays are aggressive, destructive birds, mockingbirds mean no harm to anyone. There are a couple human mockingbirds central to the story, harmless and misunderstood.

Answer 6

during the time it was written people in America were more racist than they are now and a mockingbird was slang for african american...they used a different word though

so a book on killing black people appealed a lot more to the mass public and therefore more sales

Disney also had mockingbirds in there cartoons reperesenting the public view on the black man

Answer 7

I forget which chapter it is, but it's in the beginning-middle of the book. Atticus is talking to his children and says "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird." because it never does anythign wrong, all it does it sing beautiful songs to listen to.

Answer 8

there is a quote in the book that says that it is a sin to kill a moking bird, the book is about a sin.

Answer 9

It's a metaphor for morality and humanity.

Answer 10

I couldn't give that away