Anna Gleaton Ms. V Honors 10 5/13/24. To Kill a Mockingbird Symbolism Essay Many people, including Martin Luther King Jr., heralded To Kill a Mockingbird as one of the things that sparked the Civil Rights movement in the 60s. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, takes place in 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. Scout Finch, the main character and narrator, is a young white girl. She lives with her brother, Jem Finch, and father, Atticus Finch. Atticus is a lawyer who is defending a black man named Tom Robinson. He has been accused of raping, Mayella Ewell, a white woman. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee masterfully uses the symbolic significance of a Snowman, a Mad Dog, and Mrs. Dubose’s White Camellias to foreshadow events that …show more content…
Atticus tells the jury in his closing remarks,”The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place”(Lee, 271). This quote explains how there was never any real evidence given that the crime itself happened, just like how there was no investigation of the Mad Dog. Although there was no evidence, the jury still found Tom Robinson guilty. This is because Tom is a black man so people assume he is mean and took advantage of Mayella. All of these assumptions result in the death of an innocent Tom Robinson, just like the supposed Mad Dog. Finally, Lee uses Mrs. Dubose’s White Camellias to foreshadow Jem’s rejection of racism in his town. Early on in the story, Mrs. Dubose is introduced as a mean, old, racist woman who lives near the Finches. In her yard, there are many White Camellias planted. One day, while Jem and Scout are on the way to the store, Mrs. Dubose yells at them. She talks badly about how Atticus is going to be defending Tom Robinson and insulting his parenting. This makes Jem so mad that on the way home, he rips up all of Mrs. Dubose’s White Camellias. Scout explains,”He did not begin to calm down