Atticus Symbolism In To Kill A Mockingbird

The author of To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee had wrote Atticus to say “...it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee 103). He said this to Scout and Jem because mockingbirds give nothing but music for the world to enjoy and it would be cruel and uncalled for to take their life. The reason Lee wrote this is because the story has a few metaphorical mockingbirds. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are all metaphorically portrayed as mockingbirds because of their good deeds and pure hearts, such as the birds.

Working Title In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee exemplifies the theme of racism and how it impaired and blemished the citizens of Maycomb County. One figure that Lee uses to represent racism is the “mad dog,” Tim Johnson. When Tim went out of control and became absurd and perilous to Maycomb County, every character in the novel knew that something had to be done about it. Like Tim, racism can and will eventually get out of control.

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, three themes are facing reality, losing hope, and the power of words. The first theme of To Kill A Mockingbird is facing reality. In the article Lynching, the men of the 20th century with courage must shed light on their disapproval of lynching people of color. In the text it says,

The fact that Mr Cunningham tells Atticus they want to kill Tom shows that Atticus symbolizes a mockingbird because he is risking his life defending him when he could easily let him die. Although, Atticus’s kids ( Jem and Scout Finch ) were attacked by Bob Ewell because Atticus soiled his already lackluster reputation. Jem and Scout were traveling through the woods when they hear a rustle in the bushes, a few moments later Bob comes up behind both of them with a knife. As Jem is struggling with Bob he breaks his arm and gets knocked out. Before Bob has a chance to kill them both Radley comes to the rescue and kills Bob Ewell.

“You never understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” This quote by Atticus Finch describes the nature of the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book the reader gets to see the true side of Maycomb by seeing everything through the eyes of the protagonist Scout Finch. To Kill a Mockingbird gives the reader a true look at the racism, sexism, and classism deeply rooted in Maycomb culture, by letting them see the reality of others’ lives. Racism is common practice in Maycomb.

His feelings towards Tim were like how he took on defending Tom Robinson as well. Then when tensions rose with Tom’s case, so did the nerves seconds before Tim’s last breath. The rabid dog then made his last appearance when representing all the racism and prejudice Maycomb was going through. This dog foreshadowed so many things in relation to the trial and how Atticus would handle them. Even though Atticus did everything he could have, the once innocent black man was now deemed a man guilty of raping a white woman during The Great Depression, and no one could do anything about

The poet, Lascelles Abercrombie once said, “There is only one thing which can master the perplexed stuff of epic material into unity; and that is, an ability to see in particular human experience some significant symbolism of man 's general destiny.”. He talked about how powerful of a tool symbolism is and how it is the only thing that can truly define a highly complex ‘destiny’ or series of events. Symbolism is something that is found throughout Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee shows the reader that racism is a product of society,she portrays the matter through her symbolism of the mad dog, the birds and the bugs.

Symbols have various hidden meanings that are used as a language to express emotions. They are used to make people aware of various thoughts about life and it is proved by Harper Lee’s novel to kill a mockingbird. Lee demonstrates through plot and characters that symbols express those thoughts that cannot be converted into words to express relations and emotions to a greater extent. Firstly, mockingbirds are sacrificial lambs that are surrounded by people who do not let them fight back for the injustice happening to them.

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the blue jay is a symbol for racism. One quote that shows this was said by Atticus, “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember its a sin to kill a mockingbird.” In the book, the blue jays are used to represent blacks and the mockingly represents whites. This all ties back in to Tom Robinson. The lynch mob planned on attacking Tom because he was black.

I can prove this by quoting, "When they shoot Tom Robinson , while lost in his unavailing effort to scale the wall in quest, Mr. Underwood, the editor of The Montgomery Advertiser, likened Tom 's death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children '(Dave 50). This quote explains how Tom Robinson is an example of a Mockingbird. Another example of how Tom Robinson is a symbol of a mockingbird is stated here, "There 's a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it is dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. Let the dead bury the dead"(Lee 369).

The book that I chose is To Kill A Mockingbird. The symbol of this book is a mockingbird. That symbol symbolize innocence mockingbirds only do good in the society because in the book it’s a sin to kill the mockingbird. The symbol is used in the book as a metaphor because it compares two of the main characters to the mockingbird because the two characters are harmless towards others but they took away the life of one of the most innocent people and it compares because they said taking away his life is like taking away the life of a mockingbird.

In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses allusions to help the reader to understand the setting, and irony to show character and develop theme. Prejudice, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is described as the “simple hell people give other people without even thinking”, and the novel powerfully portrays examples of racial and social prejudice. Body Paragraph #1: Harper Lee uses allusions to help the reader better understand the setting to better understand the book and it’s many themes. A part of a quote from chapter one states, “disturbance between the North and South”. This refers to the Civil War in 1861-1865, which gives the reader an estimated time period of which the book took place in, also relating to the segregation.

In Tkam (to kill a mockingbird) the author Harper Lee killed a mad dog. The mad dog can ve symbolized as many different things. Killing the dog can be used as killing racism, ignorance, discrimination, and many more. When Atticus killed the dog in the story i expected as him trying to kill many problems he faced throughout his life. When Atticus killed the mad crazy dog he also showed his kids that he wasn 't afraid of anything and that he could accomplish anything he set his mind to.

In To Kill A Mockingbird, the novel shows prejudice. Prejudice is when you judge someone because of their race, how they look, or where they come from. In our world, when you see a gangster, you think he already killed someone or he is a bad guy but he is not. The novel is shown in a kid 's point of view because kids need to know not to judge people just by looking at them. Being prejudice is a really disrespectful.

Mr. Tate was right... it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee, p. 276). Scout plainly said that Boo Radley is a mockingbird and the events in the story prove it to be true.