There are a number of places where this theme occurs.
First, the title of the book comes from the words of Atticus who says that it is sin to kill a mockingbird. He says these words in the context of Jem and Scout getting air guns. Atticus says that they should never shoot mockingbirds. Jem and Scout are perplexed. So, Scout asks Ms. Maudie. Ms. Maudie explains that Atticus right, because mockingbirds only do good. Here is the excerpt:
“Your father’s right,” she said. “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.”
To be sure, these words do not speak directly of the evils of hurting innocent people, but the lesson is there and develops.
Second, in a stern conversation between Atticus and Jem, Atticus says that when a white man harms a black man, the white man is trash. These words come in the context of the trial of Tom Robinson, where people are harming an innocent man – Tom Robinson. Here are the words:
As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it— whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash.”
Finally, arguably the strongest words on this topic come during the trial. Atticus says that he pities Mayella, but his pity does not extend as far as harming an innocent man. Here are the words of Atticus:
“I have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her putting a man’s life at stake, which she has done in an effort to get rid of her own guilt.”
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