Madalyn Lindberg Ms Vande Guchte Honors English 10b 5/13/24 To Kill a Mockingbird Symbolism Essay To Kill a Mockingbird, you know the book. You know the one where the girl dresses up in a glowing ham costume and waddles around? But what is the deeper meaning of this book? The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee takes place during the Great Depression when racism and injustice are high. This is a story narrated by Scout Finch, a 6 year old girl who is the daughter of a white lawyer, and describes her life and the trial of Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson was convicted of raping a white woman. Atticus is his lawyer and they put together a strong argument that proves Tom did not rape the girl. Foreshadowing is a process when an author says something early …show more content…
Maybe he told you about me. tell him, “hey, for me, won't you?”(Lee 154). This is Scout basically asking Mr. Cunningham why are you attacking my father and becoming racist? I used to be friends with your son, and we all live in the same community. Why are you ruining it with this racism? The racism spread to Mr. Cunningham and to other people in the community just as the Fire spread through the different houses in the neighborhood and was put out by Scouts so it won't spread just as the Fire was put out by men so it won't spread. Fire foreshadows the racism spreading through the neighborhood to Mr. Cunningham, and then destroying the community but eventually being put out by others in the neighborhood. Finally, Lee uses a Mockingbird to foreshadow Tom Robinson's death. In the story, Scout's older brother Jem gets a gun and is practicing shooting at birds. Atticus told Jem “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”(Lee 90). A mockingbird stands as a symbol of innocence and that is why it is a sin to kill it. This is saying that people should not kill something that does not hurt us, and do not do anything that affects