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Monday Morning Mystery 071210 (Literary edition)
This question was asked on our First-Saturday-of-July Celery Farm Walk:
"What does the title of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' mean?"
Will post an answer tomorrow…
2 comments
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You get the prize!
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In the book, the father tells one of his children (Jem?) that killing a mockingbird is a “sin.” (Killing a Blue Jay, for some reason in the book, isn’t).
At the conclusion of the book, the father’s trying to explain why protecting the privacy of a shy and handicapped individual (Boo Radley) is so important, and why violating it would be unthinkable. And one of his children, I think Jem (or maybe Scout), says, yes, “it would be like killing a mockingbird.”
Basically, the phrase and the title is a reference to the children’s deepening understanding of, and sensitivity to, the cruel world around them.
Do I get some kinda prize for this interpretation?
Leave your comment
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2 comments
Deedee Burnside
You get the prize!
John Workman
In the book, the father tells one of his children (Jem?) that killing a mockingbird is a “sin.” (Killing a Blue Jay, for some reason in the book, isn’t).
At the conclusion of the book, the father’s trying to explain why protecting the privacy of a shy and handicapped individual (Boo Radley) is so important, and why violating it would be unthinkable. And one of his children, I think Jem (or maybe Scout), says, yes, “it would be like killing a mockingbird.”
Basically, the phrase and the title is a reference to the children’s deepening understanding of, and sensitivity to, the cruel world around them.
Do I get some kinda prize for this interpretation?