What Does Night Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Writers from all over the world use symbolism to enhance their stories and create something so beautiful in each of their pieces. In To Kill a Mockingbird and Night, symbolism was so effective because it provided depth to the text, allowed the reader to break through the surface layer of the story, and gave readers the freedom of interpreting the story in different ways. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the author uses symbolism in her writing to create this bittersweet novel while one of the major symbols was the mockingbird. On page 119, Harper Lee wrote, “...it's a sin to kill a mockingbird, mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.. They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” In this book, the mockingbird took form in two different people from opposite sides of the …show more content…

On page 22, the author wrote, “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live”.This word, silence meant so much for Elie and all of the Jews that were tortured by the Nazis. It was the betrayal and the absence of God as his people were killed with no mercy. While the Jews witnessed the hanging of a boy who was truly an angel, they remained silent. The world did nothing to stop the genocide of millions of people as Hitler’s army killed them off piece by piece. That simple word, silence held so much power. Finally, this literary device even gives you the freedom of interpreting the meaning of the text in various ways. For example, when I was reading To Kill a Mockingbird, the symbol brought up points in my life like why convicted humans would need to receive a life sentence for a crime and what we are achieving by his. If symbolism has the power to connect the story to your life and look at it from a different perspective, it truly is a powerful and effective literary device that should be used in all