The death of a black man, the assault of two children, and a man locked up for so long he can't remember what life was like before everything seems unrelated, however they are not. They are all examples of a common theme throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, victims of what a main character begs her children not to do. In To Kill a Mockingbird, two plots coincide; two children, Scout and Jem Finch, grow fascinated by their reclusive neighbor, Arthur "Boo" Radley, and a black man named Tom Robinson is put on trial for the rape of a white woman. The book is set in a small Southern community during the Great Depression, and the scene heavily influences the events of the book. For example, in a modern urban environment a man would not buy his children air rifles and allow them to shoot as they pleased. But since it was a common thing at the time, this is exactly what Atticus does for his children. Before they can go outside, Atticus tells them one thing: that they should never shoot a mockingbird because it is a sin. When the children question this, it is explained that mockingbirds are innocent and never bring anything but good into the world, so it is a sin to kill them. This theme continues to emerge in different ways throughout the book and is exemplified by major characters and events throughout the plot. One character who displays the theme that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird is Tom Robinson. As previously mentioned, he was a married black man accused of the rape of a nineteen-year-old white woman named Mayella Ewell. Before and during the trial, he was subjected to harsh treatment and excessive cruelty. The lawyer in cross-examination even went so far as to bring out... halfway through the paper... that he had knocked the person out and then passed out, and Atticus had taken him home. After further clarification, it was determined that the man was Bob Ewell, seeking revenge on Atticus for the shame the trial had brought him, and that Boo Radley had intervened, saving Scout and Jem (309). Although Scout and Jem were returning home, a symbol of innocence, Bob Ewell still decided that killing them in anger and vengeance would be better than suffering the consequences of his actions without vengeance. He decided that killing the mockingbirds, Scout and Jem, would be better than paying the price of shame for the man he killed, Tom Robinson. Even though Scout and Jem weren't killed, they almost were, and they were almost the definitive example of a mockingbird being killed, something absolutely pure and killed for no reason..