To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about three characters: Atticus Finch, an attorney, and his two children Jem, and Scout, the narrator. As To Kill a Mockingbird progresses it becomes a dramatic story of events, attitudes, prejudice, and values. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama where peace is superficial. The town is made up of three groups: the whites, the blacks, and the “white trash”. Looking at them directly from the outside they have peace among them, but to see from the inside out there is disaffection, prejudice, and seclusion where racism is the norm. The main plot in the story is the Tom Robinson case. The case is as simple as black and white, therefore the case is lost knowing it is impossible for a black man to …show more content…
The title of the book is To Kill a Mockingbird so we can assume that mockingbirds are important but in what way we are unsure. The Mockingbirds first appear when Jem and Scout get their shiny new air rifles for Christmas. Atticus won’t teach them to shoot but he does give them one rule. “I’d rather you shot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after birds. Shoot all the blue jays you want, if u can hit `em but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Page 117). Later the kids ask Miss Maudie about this and she basically tells them that Atticus is right because mockingbirds do nothing wrong but sing their hearts out for them. Another type of symbolism is the Tom and Tim name resemblance. Tom Robinson and Tim Johnson, coincidence? In my opinion I think not. Scouts memory of her father shooting the dog pops up more than once. For instance when scout was watching Atticus take the rifle and shoot Tim Johnson she said “He [Atticus] moved quickly but I thought he moved like an underwater swimmer”. (Page 147). This same quote comes up once again when Scout is in the court room watching the Tom Robinson case and the jurors come back into the room after a long decision and she again thinks they move like underwater swimmers as they reenter the