Scout and Jem receive rifles for Christmas in chapter 9 and Atticus tells them not to point or shoot them in the house. When Uncle Jack suggests that Atticus should teach them to shoot, he defers to his brother for that lesson. However, Scout tells Miss Maudie in chapter 10 the rest of what Atticus said, which is as follows:
"I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll...
Scout and Jem receive rifles for Christmas in chapter 9 and Atticus tells them not to point or shoot them in the house. When Uncle Jack suggests that Atticus should teach them to shoot, he defers to his brother for that lesson. However, Scout tells Miss Maudie in chapter 10 the rest of what Atticus said, which is as follows:
"I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (90).
Miss Maudie confirms what Scout's father said by teaching her that mockingbirds don't harm anyone or anything; therefore, they should be left alone to sing their own sweet songs.
Boo Radley is like a mockingbird because he doesn't hurt anyone, either. No one in chapter 30 directly says that hurting Boo Radley would be like shooting a mockingbird, but the implication is there when Sheriff Heck Tate says the following:
"I never heard tell that it's against the law for a citizen to do his utmost to prevent a crime from being committed, which is exactly what he (Boo) did, but maybe you'll say it's my duty to tell the town all about it and not hush it up. Know what'd happen then? All the ladies in Maycomb includin' my wife'd be knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes. To my way of thinkin', Mr. Finch, taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight--to me, that's a sin. It's a sin and I'm not about to have it on my head. If it was any other man it'd be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch" (276).
Again, Boo Radley does represent a mockingbird in this scenario, but no one comes out and says that directly--it is implied. Hurting the innocent is a sin and the saying not to kill a mockingbird because it is innocent and harmless applies to Boo Radley. Since the town just witnessed what happens when an innocent man faces the town through the Tom Robinson trial, the Sheriff is not about to put Boo Radley or the children through another dramatic saga. Even if Boo Radley did something heroic, publicizing it is not worth the hype that it would create for such an innocent man. Boo Radley should be left alone to sing his own sweet song.
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