Symbols and Symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird - Symbols, Themes and Characters

926 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Symbolism in how to kill a mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird - Symbols, Themes and Characters

Now, you're probably wondering what is To Kill A Mockingbird all about? Well that is what I am going to be telling you about in this paper. You will find out that To Kill A Mockingbird is full of different themes, symbols, conflicts and many different characters.

There is a theme of a coexistence of good and evil in this novel. Harper dramatizes Scout and Jem's transition from a perspective of childhood innocence. Many of the characters assume that people are good because they have never seen evil. So in result to this Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are not fully prepared for the evil that they meet up with, and as a result of that they are destroyed.

There are a lot of different social classes in this story. The Finches are on the top of the social list in Maycomb. And then the farmers are underneath them. Then whom they call the white trash is underneath the farmers. Even though the blacks are much more gifted than some of those people they are still underneath those white trash people. This is the main topic of the whole story. A black man gets accused of attacking a white lady...but he probably wouldn't even be in the position that he was in if he was white. To Kill A Mockingbird shows the destructive attitude that whites have against blacks. Not so much the period we live in but it still exists.

There is also theme of an education of children. The children are taught to move from innocence to adulthood. At the end of the book which only scans through about two years of Scout's life. He knows almost everything about algebra. This theme is explored by the relationship between Atticus and his kids. Unsympathetic teachers confront Scout a lot through the story. The most important lessons are those of sympathy and understanding. Miss Caroline's commitment to the educational techniques that she has learned in college and it makes her ineffective and dangerous.

Also, there are some symbols in this story that are very important to the overall story itself. Throughout To Kill A Mockingbird, one will observe that nearly every character is a mockingbird.

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Figurative Language In To Kill A Mockingbird

    509 Words  | 2 Pages

    The symbolism of the mockingbird plays a huge role in the development of the theme in the novel. The mockingbird symbolizes innocence. In the book, it is believed that it is a sin to kill a man mockingbird because they bring about no harm, only beautiful music to enjoy. In the same sense, killing a mockingbird would be the equivalent of evil defeating good. This is represented multiple times in the novel through characters like Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson. All of whom try to bring about the good in people rather than focus on the evil in the community.

    Read More

  • TKAM: Literary Analysis Paper

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic novel written by Harper Lee. The novel is set in the depths of the Great Depression. A lawyer named Atticus Finch is called to defend a black man named Tom Robinson. The story is told from one of Atticus’s children, the mature Scout’s point of view. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch Family faces many struggles and difficulties. In To Kill a Mockingbird, theme plays an important role during the course of the novel. Theme is a central idea in a work of literature that contains more than one word. It is usually based off an author’s opinion about a subject. The theme innocence should be protected is found in conflicts, characters, and symbols.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mocking Bird

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill A Mocking Bird is set in a small town in South America called Maycomb. Most of the town’s people of this happy town are not at all what they seem for there is a great hate for all coloured humans. At first glance many readers would wonder how the title evolved, but once you explore the text you begin to understand what the bases of Harper Lee’s message. Harper Lee has portrayed two characters as Mocking Birds. The first of these is Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson is a Negro living in Maycomb who becomes notorious when he is wrongly accused of the rape of a white woman. Atticus knows that the battle will not be an easy case to win, but decides to represent Tom Robinson, as he says that he couldn’t hold his head up in town or tell the children what to do.

    Read More

  • Differences in Social Classes in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    858 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is acknowledged by many readers that there are many different social classes in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. One of the most obvious social class distinctions is between skin colors, which can be seen through this novel. Since most readers’ focal point of this novel is on the distinctions between skin colors, they are unlikely to pay attention to the difference in social class within the white community. Lee wants to illustrate a contrast in white society and how characters behave differently through the uses of character foil, characterization, and the theme of society inequality in order to emphasize the differences in social classes.

    Read More

  • Decoding Symbolism and Prejudice in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

    1551 Words  | 4 Pages

    Even though To Kill a Mockingbird was written in 1960’s the powerful symbolism this book contributes to our society is tremendous. This attribute is racism (Smykowski). To Kill a Mockingbird reveals a story about Scout’s childhood growing up with her father and brother, in an accustomed southern town that believed heavily in ethnological morals (Shackelford).

    Read More

  • Fear and Courage in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is an excellent story that gives a profound meaning to many essences in life. The story showcases many cases of great qualities such as fear and courage. Also this book contains characters with impressive personalities, but in contrast there are many characters with poor qualities and personalities. Back in the 30s, when a negro faced a white man in a courtroom, the white man will win whether he is lying or not. This would give many negros tons of fear. In addition to this book, there is a lot of mystery within the story. For example, there is a very mysterious character in the story. In the form of courage, there are many situations where characters defy odds and take huge chances for little reward. There will be 3 subjects about qualities or feelings of fear and courage. They are about the Radley family, Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson.

    Read More

  • the mockingbirds

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...birds are one of the main symbols. Mockingbirds are innocent they do not harm anyone but makes beautiful music. However, they get killed by people every day. There are many innocent person present in this novel; three main characters that are Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, and Mr. Dolphus Raymond, and they symbolize the Mockingbirds. Tom was a wrongly accused of rape, and he was brutally killed because he was black. Boo Radley did not do any harm to anyone, he was innocent, but people in the Maycomb County were thinking him as a monster which hurt him mentally. Lastly, Mr. Raymond symbolized the Mockingbird because he was innocent, however only because he thought different than others, he was looked down by the people in Maycomb County. Mockingbirds in this novel symbolized the innocent people who are getting wrongly accused and their innocence getting destroyed by evil.

    Read More

  • Boundaries in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    To Kill a Mockingbird revolves around human behavior and the boundaries that it facilitates. The boundaries of the quiet little town of Maycomb, Alabama are constantly tested by the games that people play. In each game, distinctions evolve. The distinctions become the rules of the game, of life, and from them, different boundaries form for each new character. With each new drama, characters and distinctions change, as do the boundaries which form them.

    Read More

  • Singapore Girl: Sexism And Symbols Of Singapore Airlines

    1957 Words  | 4 Pages

    The stories of SIA is the stewardess found a passenger gasping for air owing to crippling pain and she used her personal hot-water bottle as a warm compress to relieve the passenger's pain. She also knelt to massage the passenger's leg and feet for 45 minutes. The stewardess gave the lady a pair of flight support stockings and she did not ask her to pay for them. She also take care of the lady throughout the trip seven to eight hours. The stewardess's kindness, passion and excellent services makes Singapore Airlines (SIA) to become a world class service provider.

    Read More

  • Air Canada Mission Statement

    1707 Words  | 4 Pages

    “To be the best airlines in whole world and providing excellent customer experience in our flights with full entertainment and loads of satisfaction.”

    Read More

  • Life Lessons in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a result, this dramatic and deeply moving novel takes us into the world of Jem and Scout, in a journey that teaches both the characters and the readers about lessons in life that we witness everyday and learn from, growing and maturing, day by day. The main problems that were faced in the book were of: prejudice and hate, people judging others, and the inequality between the treatment of men and women. These are problems that are faced in places by people, everyday, even today, and together we must work to overcome these problems and unite, every person equal to any other.

    Read More

  • VPN or Virtual Private Network

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Virtual Private Network presents some advantages over the traditional network technologies. VPN offers direct cost savings over leased lines or long-distance calls for remote access, savings resulting from reduced training requirements and equipment, increased flexibility, scalability, and security. The main advantage of VPN is the cost savings of Internet VPN when compared to networks built using conventional leased lines. Leased lines include tariffs that have an installation fee, a fixed monthly cost, and a mileage charge. The cost to an organization of traditional leased lines may be reasonable at first but can increase exponentially as the organization grows. As an organization grows and more companies must be added to the network, the number of leased lines required increases dramatically. VPN that utilizes the Internet avoids this problem by simply tapping into the geographically distributed access already available. Another way VPN reduces costs is by reducing the need for long-distance telephone charges for remote access. Instead of having the offsite team of a company dial into the corporate modem bank via long distance lines, the company’s VPN allows them to simply place local calls to the ISP’s POP in order to connect to the corporate network.

    Read More

  • Credit Card Case Study

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Recently, many people have focused on credit card security. The credit card as a payment and financial instrument, it does separate purchases and payments (Berthoud and Kempson 1992). Many banks provide many kinds of credit cards, for example, LLOYDS bank actually have 10 types credit cards for different customers. However, when people are enjoying the convenience for using a credit card, they almost forget these potential problems on credit card security. Especially, online credit card fraud, organized crimes for credit cards and lost/stolen cards, when people found someone stole their accounts, maybe it was too later. Therefore,

    Read More

  • Singapore Airlines

    1888 Words  | 4 Pages

    Singapore Airlines (SIA) was created in 1972 and was fully state owned. The company expanded rapidly, and with a strategy of concentrating on customer needs by providing exceptional in-flight service, the airline quickly became a noteworthy competitor in the market. During its formative period in the 1970s, SIA developed all the hallmarks that made it one of the most successful and consistently profitable airlines in the world. Through a constant investment in personnel skills and other sources, the company has achieved a sustainable competitive advantage, as well as a reputation for classy elegance.

    Read More

  • Singapore Airlines Recommendations to Management

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Singapore Airlines needs to thoroughly understand the plans being pursued by the British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Virign Atlantic in improving the comfort and quality of service it provides to its customers. The Singapore Airlines needs to continue differentiate itself by examining the strengths/weaknesses, and key points of these and other competitive airlines.

    Read More

More about Symbols and Symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird - Symbols, Themes and Characters

Open Document