I believe the first reference to the mockingbird comes in
Chapter 10 when Atticus, who has just presented his children with air rifles for their
Christmas presents, warns Jem to
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"Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit
'em, but remember, it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird."
Later in
Chapter 10, Scout discusses her father's statement with Miss Maudie, who tells Scout
that
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"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music
for us to enjoy... That's why it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird."
The newspaper
editor, Mr. B. B. Underwood, refers to birds in his editorial following the death of Tom
Robinson in Chapter 25.
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He likened Tom's death to the senseless slaughter
of songbirds by hunters and
children...
Finally, in
Chapter 30, Scout recognizes the symbolism of the mockingbird in the simple nature of
Boo Radley, who has just saved her life from the attack by Bob Ewell. She knows that Mr.
Tate "was right" in calling Ewell's death an accident, since exposing Boo to the
"spotlight" of a murder investigation would
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"... be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird,
wouldn't it?"
Yet another
songbird is also mentioned often in the novel: the finch.
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