The Fragility of Morality in To Kill a Mockingbird
The words “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” in To Kill a Mockingbird keep echoing into
readers’ ears, giving an impression that something good can be broken very easily. In
reality, morality is considered to be something beautiful and holy. Unfortunately, it is not
something that can last forever or that is not easy to shake. This idea comes across
strongly in some famous works of literature, and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is
one of those which exemplify it the most. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama
during the Great Depression. The narrator, Scout Finch, witnesses strong discrimination
against the African American in society, and sees all efforts of Atticus, who strives to
protect those innocent people, turning in vain. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
develops the theme of the fragility of morality through the mockingbird symbol, the main
conflict as well as the side conflict, and the contrast between the children’s world and the
grown up world.
The mockingbird symbol in the novel, which is given a profound ethical significance
by Harper Lee, demonstrates the fragility of morality. Atticus, who is considered to be the
hero of the novel, repeats telling his children Scout and Jem that “it is a sin to kill a
mockingbird”, and the children’s friend Miss Maudie explains the reason is that
mockingbirds do not do anything but make music for people to enjoy. Mockingbirds
symbolize innocence, beauty and goodness in the story. The book’s title, To Kill a
Mockingbird, can make readers easily think of something beautiful but fragile. Throughout
the book, morality conflicts with society’s main stream value, which is to discriminate
against the African American. Ironically, those who follow the main stream value consider
it to be moral, and they absurdly consider those who have no bias towards the African
American to be mad and bad. When most people think the wrong thoughts are right, the
meaning of morality is distorted out of control. Morality should represent the good, but
inevitably that is not what most people believe in the book. This shows how fragile the
correct meaning of morality is. Compared with mockingbirds, morality is also something
beautiful and easy to be destroyed. The mockingbird, therefore, can symbolize ethics.
This strong symbol illustrates the main theme of the novel, which is the fragility of morality.
Furthermore, the mockingbird can represent the African American as well. Most white
people call the African American the “negros”. A “negro” is accepted largely as a servant in
To Kill a Mockingbird. Similarly, a mockingbird also has a miserable fate. It is not able to
control its own destiny because it can be killed by people at any time. In the novel, it
seems like both the mockingbird and the African American are born to serve others but
they do not earn people’s respect, which is not the way it should be. The mockingbird has
a connotative meaning which conveys that innocent things and people can be ruined
easily. In a society led by white people, social morality does not play any role and the
white people just rampantly look down upon the African American. This can be connected
to an imagined scene at which a mockingbird is shot by a naughty child or even an adult.
The mockingbird symbolizes the “negros” in that dark society, and it emphasizes that
morality can be lost easily in one’s head. On the whole, the mockingbird can symbolize
innocence, beauty, goodness and especially those who are not able to protect themselves,
like the African American. Each symbol mentioned above shows how ethics is weak in the
story.
The main conflict in To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as the side conflict, develops the
theme the fragility of morality as well. The most obvious conflict in the novel is between
justice and racial discrimination. Justice is weak in the story. Atticus fails to protect an
innocent victim, Tom Robinson, against people’s injustice and prejudice. People think Tom
Robinson rapes a white woman simply because of his dark skin color. When Atticus wants
to strive for equality for Tom, some people try to stop him from doing this. In the first trial,
the jury votes “guilty” even after Atticus deprecates people’s attitudes towards the African
American to the view. The icy truth appears that a large portion of the crowd have already
lost conscience and forgotten morality in their deep hearts. Evil is so powerful in society
that those who still possess morality can hardly make a difference for innocent people.
This tragedy shows the fragility of morality. In addition to Tom Robinson, Arthur Boo
Radley is another victim who intensifies the tragic truth that morality is easily lost.
Because evil is everywhere while morality is so fragile, Boo, like Tom, is also punished for
no crimes he ever committed, representing all innocent victims. Arthur Boo Radley
develops the side conflict of the book. He is kept invisible for fifteen long years and nearly
buried alive in the Radley House, simply because his father enjoys wallowing in the Vanity
Fair. What happens to the two innocent victims shapes the atmosphere in Macomb with a
moral disturbance, and thus citizens’ moral sense can gradually disappear. Again, Arthur,
who is reclusive and has no contact with people in society most of his life, actually is nice
though he is punished to be locked for some trifling adolescent pranks. For two years,
Scout and Jem find mysterious gifts left by Boo in a tree outside the Radley house.
Moreover, after Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem in the street and Jem’s arm is broken,
Boo Radley carries Jem home. Boo, consequently, is a good man. Ironically, people
without doing “bad things” and being punished could walk into or out of their houses freely,
but their behavior is selfish and disturbing; most open their “windows one by one” only
after danger is over. (Lee, 127) These people’s behaviors, which provide a contrast for
Boo, show that their moral sense does not exist anymore. Real good people like Boo are
punished in the story, and the side conflict that Boo is involved in shows the world is not
the way it should be; it is losing morality. Accordingly, in To Kill a Mockingbird, both the
main conflict and the side conflict present readers with poignant examples of how morality
can be easily damaged.
A sharp contrast between the children’s world and the grown up world demonstrates
the fragility of morality in the latter in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the children’s world, morality
is preserved well. In the grown up world, nonetheless, morality seems to be lost. The
contrast can be bitterly seen after Tom Robinson is adjudged to be guilty. Children’s young
hearts bleed, while adults do not get sick or cry. Jem feels sick during the trial, which
shows that he is shocked by how adults behave in court. He is not used to adults’ cold
attitude to whether Tom is really guilty and whether he will be punished with death
sentence. Jem feels even sick of their stereotype to the “negros” because he knows Tom
is wrongly accused. Thereupon, it can be clearly seen that children retain morality while
adults do not. Because many things strike adults as being not quite right, adults do not
react like children. After all, as one gets older, morality will become vaguer and vaguer in
his or her heart. Besides, the narrator’s personal views also indicate how different the
children’s world and grown up world are, and how their contrast shows the fragility of
morality. Specifically, Scout’s realization of the nature of courts dawns suddenly after the
trial bought to Tom Robinson. She says: “In the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had
no case.” (295) Scout, as a child, gradually knows the darkness and inequality of courts.
Courts are parts of grown up world, and they are supposed to represent justice and
equality but in reality they are not any better than other places. Showing this phenomenon
the author sarcastically tells the evolution of human consciousness through life
experiences. Provided that one is not a child anymore, it is likely for him or her to be
unconscious about ethics. This also shows the theme of the story, the fragility of morality.
Harper Lee expresses her criticism to life in To Kill a Mockingbird. By repeatedly
portraying the mockingbird symbol, creating the main conflict as well as the side conflict,
and revealing the difference between the children’s life and the adults’ life, the novelist
brings the story to a moral journey, showing the theme of the fragility of morality. Maycomb,
where the story takes place, is a microcosm of our world. There are places in our world
where good, right and beautiful things conflict with evil, wrong and ugly things, and
sometimes those immoral things are stronger. Hence, social morality should be attached
significance to because it appears to be very fragile.
Works Cited
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central, 1982. Print.
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