To Kill a Mockingbird Symbolism Essay

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

Question;
Describe an important symbol or symbols in the text you have studied and analyse how the symbol helped to develop ideas in the text.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story of racial prejudice and social class set in a time when such narrow-mindedness was considered acceptable and apart of every day life in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Narrated and based around Scout (Jean Louise) Finch and the many ordeals she and her brother (Jem) face in the years of their growing up; out of the childhood innocence they once possessed to realise the true evils of their community and shed false pretences surrounding the innocence of two such characters as Boo Radley and Tom Robinson for which the community of Maycomb had long labelled and ridiculed for either their colour or peculiar behavioural patterns. Lee incorporates several different symbols within the text that assist in developing the ideas and beliefs held by both Scout and Jem such as; the Mockingbird, Mrs Dubose’ Camellias and Mayella Ewell’s red Geraniums all of which play important roles on the children’s conscience and sense of justice.
A Mockingbird is an innocent animal that exists solely to make music, it does not harm nor offend any around it but rather tries to make life more pleasant. Scout and Jem’s father tells them they can “shoot all the Blue Jays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird,” (pg 69). In To Kill A Mockingbird Boo Radley and Tom Robinson can be seen as Mockingbirds who are both peaceful people that would never dream of hurting another, however both of these characters are in a sense killed by the community of Maycomb through their prejudice attitudes and beliefs. In contrast with the loud and obnoxious Blue jay the Mockingbird does not have its own song but rather only sings the songs of other birds just as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley do not have their own ‘song’ and play only to the tune of music set down to them by the people of Maycomb. In a sense they are only seen through the eyes of other less innocent birds who know only what they have heard from others. This symbol of the Mockingbird helps to create the idea in Scout’s mind that what the community of Maycomb is doing to Boo Radley and Tom Robinson is in fact a sin as they do not do anything to harm anyone else within the neighbourhood and exist solely to sing their songs for all those who will hear them.
In To Kill A Mockingbird Mrs Dubose’ Camellias are a symbol of courage in both her own personality and in that of Jem. In the novel Jem loses his head when Mrs Dubose insulted his father saying that he was “no better than the niggers and trash he works for,” Jem reacted by destroying all of Mrs Dubose’ Camellias that she had spent so long growing and as a punishment was forced to re-grow the Camellias and come to read to the sick old lady everyday for a month taking a lot of courage to overcome his emotions in order to avoid further trouble. This also forces Jem to get to know Mrs Dubose as more than just a cranky old lady who takes pleasure in insulting others but also as a courageous woman that is battling and is eventually able to overcome a morphine addiction. The Camellias represent this through their growth particularly the waxy Camellia or the “snow-on-the-mountain,” as it grew through the care of Mrs Dubose so did her spirit allowing her to eventually overcome her morphine addiction and die as “free as the mountain air”. Its growth also symbolised the development of Jem’s personality as he came to accept Mrs Dubose and even admire her determination and courage furthermore he was gifted with the “snow-on-the-mountain” Camellia in Mrs Dubose’s will setting in stone his new found personality and assisting in turning Jem into the “gentleman he was meant to be”. As such the Camellia through its representation of Mrs Dubose assisted in developing the idea throughout the text and that you cannot judge a book by its cover; Mrs Dubose spent her days insulting and ridiculing those around her and is therefore viewed as nasty and inhospitable but after spending some time with her Jem and Scout who accompanies her brother in reading to Mrs Dubose realise that she is not all that she seems and underneath the cold exterior is a woman possessing courage worthy of their respect thus changing both of their ideology in relation to the people around them that they had perhaps once seen as angry or bitter.
However Mrs Dubose’s Camellias are not the only type of flower to play an important symbolic role in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird. Mayella Ewell’s red Geraniums also carry an important meaning. In the midst of Tom Robinson’s trial the audience is given a detailed description of the Ewell abode, described as being something of a dump with the remains of old rusted cars and tools lying about in no particular order, this makes it quite easy to determine the social status of those who live there as that of a poor nature. However in amongst all of the disorganised mess there are “six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red Geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson,” in such an unloved and obviously uncared for yard these Geraniums seemed out of place and yet there they remained symbolising that there is good in everyone even the Ewell’s who’s collective personalities are akin to the unkempt yard of their home and yet in every yard of each individual there is a row of Geraniums waiting to be seen and recognised for what they are. As such the Geraniums in this text symbolise the good that resides in every human being creating the idea that nobody can truly be all bad even Bob Ewell has to have at least one Geranium to lift the appearance of the yard that is his personality, such ideas and beliefs are also impressed upon Scout’s developing personality.
In conclusion within the text To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee there are a number of symbols used to portray the development of many corresponding ideas and beliefs held by the residents of Maycomb county weather that be the counties resident Mockingbirds Boo Radley and Tom Robinson who continue to sing their songs of purity and innocence even in death (in Tom’s case), Mrs Dubose who’s underlying courage was able to shine through her Camellias and rub of on Jem or Mayella Ewell who’s backyard is proven to be populated by beautiful Geraniums; symbolism has played huge role on their ideas and beliefs and those of the people around them most notably the narrator Scout Finch who’s entire outlook on life is changed through the use of such symbolism.