Who do you think is the most important important 'mockingbird' in Harper Lee's 'How To Kill a Mockingbird'

The concept of a mockingbird is a theme that is explored throughout Lee's novel and the characters who can be defined as such share the common trait of being caught up in a system that is ultimately against them, for whom the reader feels sympathy even if they do not side with them.

Tom Robinson is a symbol of innocence in the text and the clearest victim, or 'mockingbird', in the novel, with his dedication to his family and hard-working but humble nature making the reader cleave towards him and side with Atticus in seeing that there is no way such a gentle giant would have raped Mayella Ewell. However, it is Mayella herself who provides a more interesting and perhaps more important 'mockingbird' for Lee's purpose in using the book as a vehicle for social change. For Mayella is as much a victim of the system as Tom, though she is held down by her social class and reputation while Tom is subject to the racism of America in the 1930s.

It is Mayella's mistreatment at the hands of her father and the lack of help she recieves from the society which drive her, in turn, to Tom; changing her from the gentle girl who takes much care in tending her "brilliant red geraniums" to someone who lies in court to protect herself. In this sense, the lesson Mayella teaches the reader -- that hate breeds hate and the only way to combat the cycle is to start treating every member of a community with equal respect and care -- perhaps makes her the most important 'mockingbird' in the text.