Symbolism

Mocking Birds

The title of the novel is ‘To kill a Mockingbird’; from this you can tell Mockingbirds have an importance and symbolism in the book. Mockingbirds

first appear when Jem and Scout are given rifles and shown how to use them; their father Atticus told them something very important;

"I'd rather you shot at tin cans in the back yard, but I know you'll go after birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to

kill a mockingbird."

That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it.

"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." (Page 99, chapter 10)

Mockingbirds are harmless innocent creature, and killing them would be wrong seeing as they don’t hurt anyone.

The author, Harper Lee, has used the use of the mocking bird to symbolize two innocent and vulnerable characters; Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley and Tom Robinson.

Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley is an innocent character despite his past, (e.g.; being in the wrong crowd of people and stabbing his father), he is a psyhchologically ill man

after being confined in his house for many years without escape, Arthur watches out for his neighborhood and protects the children, Jem and Scout.

Tomo Robinson is a disabelled man that goes through trial of a crime he hasn’t committed, he is a victim of racism due to being a ‘negro’ . Arthur and Tom

havent harmed anyone yet they go through differents trials that are placed on them through the community.

"Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"

(Page 304; chapter 30)

The Radley Place

The Radley Place has coveyed the image of a Haunted house, with the many mysteries that happen behind closed doors, the fear of going near the house during the day and night. The people of Maycomb created a ‘legend’ about the Radley Place The ‘legend’ is used to bring

fear into the childrens minds

A Negro would not pass the Radley Place at night; he would cut across to the sidewalk opposite and whistle as he walked. The Maycomb school grounds adjoined the back of the

Radley lot; from the Radley chickenyard tall pecan trees shook their fruit into the schoolyard, but the nuts lay untouched by the children: Radley pecans would kill you. A baseball hit into

the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked. (pg 9, chp 1)

http://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/mockingbirds-symbol.html

Literary ElementsPoint of view: The story is told by Scouts, it is interesting to read a story in the view of a 10

year olds experiences. The reader is given a larger insight of what it must feel for an innocent child to have her views conflicted as her life changes as she experience’s things

that happen in the community and family.

Motifs

A motif is used to develop and inform the texts major themes, they are generally reoccurring structures, contrasts and literary devices.

Gothic details:

Gothic features are added to the text to create drama and an atmosphere. The gothic features used in To Kill a Mocking Bird, is the unnatural snowfall that the small town of

Maycomb receives, the fire that starts at Miss Maudie’s house, the endless superstitions about Boo Radley, and the Halloween night Bob Ewell attacks the children. The use of these

features in a novel that is set in the small country town of Maycomb adds tension to the events of the trial and its aftermath.

Discussion

Racism and Prejudice

‘To a kill Mockingbird’ really shows the racism in the southern states of America in the 1930’s. Scout and Jem are out casted by students at their school by kids calling their father and them ‘nigger-lovers’, the book shows the injustice of black people in the society back then, all they were used for was work as slaves, maids etc. The townspeople of Maycomb are prejudice and are narrow-minded and refuse to see past having a mixed race in their town’s community, according to them ‘that all Blacks lie, that all Blacks are basically immoral beings’. Yet we have Atticus, Scout and Jem Finch and a man called Mr Dolphus Raymond who wants to help out Tom Robinson who is the accused, because they believe that white people give the coloured hell yet they don’t stop to think that they are people too. While reading this novel I wondered if the novel had a change on the way society thought and acted back then. I hope that it would of but maybe because we are more educated now we only see the unfairness, prejudice and injustice imposed on coloured people.

Female Values and Women's Rights

Scout is forced by her Aunty to act like a women, wear dresses, not to be outspoken, to not fight. I suppose its good that she was taught to act like a woman because being a woman requires as much courage as it takes to also be a tomboy. Calpurnia is a coloured maid of the Finch household; she looks after the children, cooks and cleans. To be a white woman in the 1930’s it means to act like a lady, to get married and have children yet if you were a coloured woman you were expected to work as either a maid, cleaner or a slave-to work most days a week. Compared to men, woman didn’t have much say in community affairs.

Good and Evil

Good and Evil play a big part in the novel, Jem and Scout are largely influenced by good and evil, because they are young and innocent children they are yet to see evil around them and in people so they only see good in people because they don’t know what evil is, what it looks like due to the children being naïve and ignorant they are yet to see evil from more of an adult perspective. As the children grow up and face the evil Scout is able to maintain her faith in humanity whereas Jem’s faith in humanity is damaged badly. Atticus understands that there is good and evil in everyone, they have good and bad qualities. It’s good to understand others good qualities and bad qualities to treated with sympathy and to try and see it from that person perspective.

Bibliography

To Kill a Mocking Bird, Good and Evil; George Marotous and Merren Ward.; Melbourne; 2006; viewed 14/5/2013 http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/mockingbird/goodevil.htm

To Kill a Mocking Bird, Prejudice and Bigotry; George Marotous and Merren Ward.; Melbourne; 2006; viewed 14/5/2013 http://resources.mhs.vic.edu.au/mockingbird/prejudice.htm

To Kill a Mocking Bird; Themes, Motifs, Symbols; Sparknotes 2013; viewed 7/5/2013 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mocking/themes.html

The Heinemann English Project Text study; To Kill a Mocking Bird; Melissa Kennedy, 2005

The Radley Place; Shmoop University; 2013; viewed 23/4/2013 http://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/mockingbirds-symbol.html