Symbolism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Samuel Donahey
Mr. Watson
Academic English 9, Block 5
15 January 2023
The Catastrophe of the Mad Dogs in To Kill a Mockingbird Despite its considerable age, Harper Lee’s book To Kill A Mockingbird has kept an important role in literature because of its excellent symbolism, characters, and incredibly detailed setting. One of these symbols is that of the mad dog, which displays antagonism and discrimination, and another is the disease which corrupts the ‘mad dogs’. Tim Johnson, the origin of these symbols, had gone mad because of rabies and threatened the Finches by its approach before being shot by Atticus. Other notable characters which fit this role include Mayella and Bob Ewell. Although Mayella was not always deceitful, Bob Ewell’s beating

One such example is the mad dog, Tim Johnson, who represents a citizen corrupted by racism, which is symbolized by rabies. This dog being shot by Atticus while Heck Tate hesitates is both a case of symbolism and also foreshadowing of their positions in the trial. When Maycomb county’s pet, Tim Johnson, succumbs to rabies and goes mad, the first two to notice it are Jem and Scout Finch, who were playing outside. Not knowing what is wrong with Tim Johnson, the two inform Calpurnia about Tim Johnson’s odd behavior. Scout reflects on this moment, “She followed us beyond the Radley place and looked at where Jem pointed. Tim Johnson was not much more than a speck in the distance, but he was closer to us. He walked erratically, as if his right legs were shorter than his left legs. He reminded me of a car stuck in a sandstorm”. (123) The base of this thesis is Tim Johnson’s madness, which is caused by rabies. The development of the Ewells happens in a way similar to the gradual degradation of the body caused by rabies, and just like Tim Johnson, Atticus Finch shoots them down as Heck Tate stands on the side. When Scout saw her relatives, Francis, her cousin, made a clear display of the connection between Tim Johnson and the citizens of Maycomb. After meeting up with her relatives, Francis causes trouble by insulting Scout, Dill, and notably, Atticus for his role in the upcoming trial. After

Starting with spitting on Atticus, he later ends up disturbing several people involved in the trial and being humiliated after his exemption from the WPA because of laziness. Scout recalls these events, "The first thing was that Mr. Bob Ewell acquired and lost a job in a matter of days and probably made himself unique in the annals of the nineteen-thirties... The scratching noise was coming from the rear of the house. Judge Taylor clumped to the back of the house to let Ann out and found the screen door swinging open. A shadow on the corner of the house caught his eye, and that was all he saw of his visitor... Calpurnia said it was hard on Helen, because she had to walk nearly a mile out of her way to avoid the Ewells, who, according to Helen, ‘chunked at her’ the first time she tried to use the public road.” (332-333) Since Atticus exposed his actions in the trial of Tom Robinson, Bob Ewell acted more reckless, invading the home of Judge Taylor and threatening Helen Robinson in the open. This caused his reputation to sink lower, and he believed he needed to take action against the people whom he thought had ruined his reputation. Like Tim Johnson, Bob Ewell had this disease for much longer than others would expect. It was only on the night of Maycomb’s Halloween pageant that Bob Ewell had succumbed to its full symptoms. While Jem and