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What Does The Nut Grass Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In Harper Lee’s award-winning 1960 novel To Kill A Mockingbird, symbolism is often used throughout the book. To Kill A Mockingbird is a historical fiction about Atticus fighting racism and his 2 kids Scout and Jem having to deal with the consequences of that in a racist town. Harper Lee cleverly uses symbols like Mad Dog and a Mockingbird to portray racial injustices, but one of the most subtle yet more exciting choices of symbolism are flowers. Whether it be Miss Maudie's nut grass, Mrs. Dubose’s camellias, or Mayella's geraniums, Harper Lee finds one way or another to use different objects to symbolize or convey important messages in her book.

One symbol that is used in To Kill A Mockingbird to help the reader understand an important lesson is Miss Maudie's garden. Specifically nut grass. According to Premier Nursery, it says “Nut grass is one of the most invasive weeds. Its existence in crops or fields can significantly reduce production because it competes for nutrients and resources.” This shows that in the real world, nut grass is poisonous to other plants. To Kill A Mockingbird is also no exception. In chapter 5, page 43, Miss Maudie says, “Why one sprig of nut grass can ruin a whole yard.” In this scenario, nut grass …show more content…

Dubose’s Camellias. According to bouqs.com “In Japan, White Camellias represent death.” This is also true in To Kill A Mockingbird. Mrs. Dubose’s flowers are used as a symbol of time and a method of foreshadowing. In chapter 11, Jem gets so frustrated with Mrs. Dubose that he destroys all of her camellias. In the book, it says “He did not begin to calm down until he had cut the tops off of every camellia.” (pg 106) In this case, the camellias represent time, showing that after what Mrs. Dubose said about Atticus Jem had no more time/patience for her. This also foreshadowed that Mrs. Dubose was going to die because the Camellias were her life and once they died, so did

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