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To Kill A Mockingbird Symbolism Essay

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Symbols are all around us, even when we don’t realize it. If we see a pretty flower, a sunrise, or a pool most of us will think about happiness and fun. Likewise, if we see a cloudy sky, a dark forest, or a heavy rainstorm we tend to feel sad and dreary. Most of the time, we do not even realize that the feelings we experience are affected by symbols. When reading, symbols add a deeper meaning to a novel’s plot. In the case of authors like Harper Lee, symbols also help to teach a deeper lesson. In Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, she uses many symbols, but tends to focus on that of a mockingbird, especially a mockingbird that has ‘died’ or is being ‘killed’. While there are many characters in the novel who symbolize mockingbirds, Scout Finch is a particularly potent example of a murdered mockingbird. Scout shows an urge to sing, an innocence and freedom from worldly affairs, and an eventual …show more content…

The prime symbol Lee was creating was not only a mockingbird but, as the title To Kill a Mockingbird implies, a killed mockingbird. Scout does not die in To Kill a Mockingbird, but she does lose her innocence and optimism due to the heinous acts surrounding her. The conviction of Tom Robinson chipped at Scout’s heart and she was pained by the false verdict, but she healed the wound until all that was left was a scar. Soon afterward, Scout and her brother were attacked by Mr. Ewell. To have someone attempt to kill you is a traumatic experience for anyone, and it just fired another shot at Scout. The final stroke was the appearance of Boo Radley. When Scout saw Boo, she realized he was not the dreadful monster rumor had painted him out to be. All of the petty cruelty Scout had watched is enough to break a grown man. All of her foul experiences, when pooled together, murdered the spark that made Scout a mockingbird. When Scout realized the true, harsh, unabated cruelty of people, another mockingbird was

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