In the last century, there have certainly been many "greats" - novels, books and stories that impress, amaze and make you think. However, Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" is unique among all these poignant literary works in that the novel uniquely develops Lee's idea, brought up by Atticus in the novel, to "...shoot all the jays blues you want, if you want.” you can hit them, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (90). This phrase is explained by the character MissMaudie when she says: "...mockingbirds don't do anything other than making music for us to enjoy. They don't devour people's gardens, don't nest in corn a thing but sing to us with all their hearts. This is why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. :(90) In the bird kingdom, the blue jay is considered the "tyrant", because it is very noisy, aggressive and territorial; by BobEwell. The phrase "to kill a mockingbird" represents the iniquity of vitiating something good and relatively intact, because mockingbirds only sing beautiful songs, they are innocent and harmless. " - the mockingbird is known for its ersatz songs of other birds. This mockingbird motif, the main theme, is illustrated by the actions and words of three characters in "To Kill A Mockingbird" - Arthur ( Boo) Radley, Tom Robinson and Jean - Louise (Scout) Finch It is obvious and simple to understand why one of the "mockingbirds" in Lee's novel is Tom Robinson, because he is not only crippled: "His. left arm was twelve inches shorter than his right arm and he was hanging dead at his side. It ended in a little shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was of no use to him. 186), but also innocent, kind and tender when he helps Mayella Ewell, in exchange for nothing. 197) He is a victim not only of racial prejudice, but also of the system of segregation in which the town of Maycomb lived. Even when he was convicted, the jurors had no quarrel with him - they simply believed that taking more than two white people's word for it would jeopardize the system of segregation under which they lived. Tom as a symbol is continued by