To Kill A Mockingbird Symbolism

The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, was written by american novelist, Harper Lee. This Pulitzer Prize-winning best seller was known as Harper Lee’s own literary success story making her book prosperous. The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, portrays many different themes, symbols, and imagery throughout Lee’s writing. Constant themes throughout the entirety of the story is family, racism, and the Southern life in the 1930’s. One of many symbols that are represented in To Kill A Mockingbird are of course, Mockingbirds. The mockingbird may not be a large component in the book, but it portrays a large symbolic part in the story. The mockingbird represents the idea of innocence, “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird”, thus, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Atticus informs Scout of this early in the story, and in the end of the story Scout mentions this again. There are few characters in this book who may be identified as “mockingbirds”, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson can be portrayed as innocence destroyed. Tom Robinson was destroyed by his segregated town, and Boo Radley broken by his cruel father. Boo Radley was a more important “mockingbird” in To Kill A Mockingbird. At the end of the book Scout even refers to Boo Radley as a mockingbird saying “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”. Boo Radley was not only portrayed as

Reading To Kill A Mockingbird exposes the southern lifestyle, the community members in the town of Maycomb may appear to have a warm, sweet, and welcoming attitude to their surrounding neighbors and community members, this is often known as “Southern Hospitality”. However, it becomes apparent that “Southern Hospitality” may only be a stereotype when it comes to some in Maycomb, these community members may seem warm and welcoming, but behind closed doors they were jealous and