In To Kill a Mockingbird what are the three times that the phrase 'It is a sin To Kill a Mockingbird' used?

Answer 1

1. Chapter 10: Atticus speaks to Scout and Jem as they begin to use the guns given to them as gifts: "I'd rather you shoot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin To Kill a Mockingbird."

2. Chapter 10: Scout is puzzled by what Atticus has said (i.e., the comment quoted immediately above) and she asks Miss Maudie Atkinson about it. Miss Maudie says that: "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."

3. Chapter 30: Atticus is sure that it was Jem who stabbed Bob Ewell. Although it was "Boo" Radley who felled Ewell in an act to protect Jem and Scout, Sheriff Tate tells Atticus that he intends to report that Ewell fell on his own knife. Sheriff Tate tells Atticus that he will not let "Boo" Radley be exposed to the publicity of a charge and trial; that it would be a SIN to drag him into the limelight. Atticus begins to understand that Jem did not kill Ewell. It was someone else: "Boo" Radley. In this context, "Boo" Radley surely represents the innocence of the mockingbird. Scout shows that she understands this and Sheriff Tate completely, when she says to Atticus reassuringly: "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"

Answer 2

The phrase "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird" is first mentioned by Atticus Finch, who says it to Scout and Jem when he gives them air rifles. Miss Maudie later explains that it is a sin because mockingbirds are innocent creatures that only bring beauty and music to the world. The phrase is also reiterated by Atticus at the end of the book when he equates harming the innocent Tom Robinson to killing a mockingbird.