Defending the Defenseless

I’ve probably read the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” three or four times. Each time I read it, I'll gleam something from it. It is one of those classic books where you get wrapped up in the characters and become part of the story. The characters are the father, Atticus Finch, who is a widow and lawyer in a small fictional southern town, and his children Jem and Scout. The story is also about Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.

 

Boo Radley is a grown man who got in trouble as a teen  and his father locked him in the house and wouldn't let him leave it. When his father dies, Boo's brother comes to live with him and take care of him. Boo had not ventured out of his house for probably 15 years.

Tom Robinson is a black man wrongly accused of rape and he finally is killed, even though he was an innocent man. Atticus defends him in a trial, knowing he will probably lose. Plus the trial upsets  people because Atticus is defending a black man.

In Chapter 10 of the book, Atticus tells Scout “Remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Scout was not sure about what her father had said so she asked Miss Maudie about it and Miss Maudie said,

 

 “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."

 

Tom's death is compared to "the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children".

Then when Boo protects Scout and Jem from a person trying to harm them, Scout tells Atticus that hurting Boo would be "sort of like shooting a mockingbird".

Boo never did anything to hurt anyone.

 

Tom Robinson and Boo Radley were very vulnerable.

Tom  was black, uneducated and poor, gentle of spirit and had only one good arm.

Boo  was poor and uneducated and mentally retarded and gentle of spirit.

 

I think about all the innocent mockingbirds in this world. The children in countries where war is an everyday happening,  the aborted babies who never had a chance to be a part of God's creation. I think about all the people who are made fun of just because they are a little bit different. People who have never hurt anyone, but are vulnerable to the hurts of the world.

John 13:34

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another;

 as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.