Mockingbird Motif

To tell the truth, I've had the impression that a motif was just a made-up word designed to fool honors freshman. In my summer assignment, I ended up guessing on the answer, deciding that to find a motif, I must find a foreign word. "To Kill a Mockingbird" enlightened me with a better understanding of what a motif is; it is definitely not a foreign word, but a recurring symbol. From what I've read, it seems to me that a motif is also a concept that is centered around - an idea that runs the plot, and motivates the themes.

Obviously the motif of this book is shown as the mockingbird - a melodic creature who brings nothing but goodwill, one whose pure innocence is overlooked. It is referred to often in the novel, and serves a connection to the many themes; it ties them all together to create a well-knit plot and moral. The themes: Prejudice(race, class, and gender), Justice vs. Injustice, and Standing in Another's Shoes all focalize the main point which is "to kill a mockingbird". Tom Robinson was quite a literal example of a mockingbird. He was the picture of innocence; respectful, gracious, and eager to help. He was also framed to be the rapist of Mayella Ewell. No matter how obvious he was innocent, the townsfolk would not let a black man's word go above a white man's (pardon- woman's*). The jury was vicious, and held fast to the clutches of prejudice. Letting their tainted minds overrule the truth, they found him guilty of a crime he did not commit. This is Injustice defeating Justice; it is "killing a mockingbird".

Life Lesson

"No matter how unimportant you think you are, you are an influence to SOMEONE."
-PJ Moon. Only 23yr's old, and he's said the one thing that caused me to rethink my whole way of living. He was a youth leader, who meant to change our attitude towards responsibility - and it worked. Pj Moon told me that there ARE people paying attention to me. But who am I influencing that it matters? I wondered. "Your little cousins, students of lower grades, your friends, or perhaps even your brother notice changes about your attitude, your responses, and your thoughts." Pj said, "If you start cussing, soon they will see you as an excuse to start cussing themselves. If you start living right, they will see you as someone to look up to, and will try to live right as well. No matter how unimportant you think you are, you are an influence to SOMEONE."

Though his words made me a bit self-conscious of everything I do, it's helped me to do everything right. When tempted to watch an R-rated movie with friends, my conscious seems to start up like a record player, replaying Pj's words with an annoying vengeance, and lays out two options, 1) watch the movie that's filled with violence/sex/and or profanity, or 2) say no. Though it's hard to watch my friends laugh at my silliness when I choose option 2 ("it's just a movie, Anna" they say), for up until now, I've held my dignity and followed what was right. And I now realize that my diligence is starting to pay off, as my friends look at me, and ask me seriously, which PG13 movie we should watch.

I just had to choose what was right for myself, and peers around me would change their lifestyles for themselves. Seemingly, Pj knew what he was talking about.