Examples Of Foreshadowing In To Kill A Mockingbird

Amelia Cox

Vande Guchte

Honors English 10

5/11/23

To Kill a Mockingbird Foreshadowing

Harper Lee’s father was a lawyer involved in the Scottsboro Boys trial. She grew up while he dealt with a case of white women falsely accusing Black boys of rape. As an adult, she wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, a story greatly inspired by her childhood. Throughout the book, she uses symbolism to foreshadow what is to come. She uses the mad dog, the mockingbird, even changes in the weather to foreshadow the coming events. Early on in the book, the main character, Scout, spots a dog coming down the street. It’s acting very strangely. The family’s helper, Calpurnia, gets on the phone saying, “This is Cal. I swear to God there’s a mad dog down the street a

The characters in the book directly tell us that a mockingbird represents innocence when Miss Maudie says, “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.” (Lee 119). Mockingbirds have done nothing wrong, nothing to bother people, they “don’t do one thing but make music”, so when one is killed, it’s the same as killing an innocent. The death of an innocent is foreshadowed in the title of the book–To Kill A Mockingbird. As the story continues, we learn that Tom Robinson is the innocent who is killed. After his trial, he is to be put to death by an electric chair, but Atticus is trying to get an appeal for him where they can prove his innocence and save his life. Before this is possible, however, Atticus comes home and tells his sister, Alexandra, Calpurnia, and Scout that Tom has been killed. He says, “He was running. It was during their exercise period. They said he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them–” After being interrupted, he says, “Oh yes, the guards called to him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as he went over the fence. They said if he’d had two good arms he would have

Jem and Scout were walking to the high school for Scout to be a part of a Maycomb County pageant. She was dressed as a ham made out of chicken wire because the children in the pageant represented the economic and agricultural products from Maycomb. Carefully, they walked through the dark as Scout narrates, “The weather was unusually warm for the last day of October. We didn’t even need jackets. The wind was growing stronger, and Jem said it might be raining before we got home. There was no moon.” (Lee 341). The “unusually warm” night and strong winds foreshadowed the huge change in the plot that was about to happen. As they walked home in the dark after the pageant, Jem kept hearing footsteps behind them. After hiding and listening to the footsteps, they were attacked by Bob Ewell. It was pitch black and Scout could hardly see what was going on. After it was all over, Scout was back home, Jem was asleep with his arm broken by Bob, and Bob was dead under a tree, the sheriff finds Scout’s ham costume. Examining it, he says, “‘This probably saved her life,’ he said, ‘Look.’ He pointed with a long forefinger. A shiny clean line stood out on the dull wire. ‘Bob Ewell meant business,’ Mr. Tate muttered.” (Lee 360). Scout’s ham costume was made out of chicken wire, which made it impossible for Bob to get to her with his knife. Based on the cuts in the costume, the characters realize that Bob had