Tom Robinson
dies attempting to climb a prison fence with one good arm and one disabled. The prison guards
shoot warning shots, but when Tom doesn't stop, they fire to kill. Inof ,
B.B. Underwood writes an editorial in his newspaper about Tom Robinson's death, which is
interesting becausestated earlier that Underwood never liked black people. Whether that still
remains true by the time the editorial is unclear, but Underwood does compare killing Tom to
killing a mockingbird. The editorial included the following comments (as paraphrased by
):
Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill
cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping. He likened Tom's death to the senseless
slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children (241).
Scout learns about the symbolism behind shooting mockingbirds inwhen Atticus tells his
children it is a sin to shoot them, but it is Miss Maudie who later translates the
meaning.
Your father's right... Mockingbirds don't do one
thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in
corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to
kill a mockingbird" (90).
Tom never did anything to
hurt anyone and he was a good man. It seems as though everyone in Maycomb believes, understands,
and teaches the principle of the mockingbird. Sheriff Tate later refers to the mockingbird
regarding . Mr. Underwood must have included the symbol of the mockingbird in his editorial
because everyone understands the phrase and will be able to connect the saying to Tom more
easily. Hopefully, people will understand it is never a victory when someone who has less of an
advantage in life is ridiculed and taken advantage of by the privileged, and it's even worse
when they are killed for it.
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