“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” Harper Lee once said. You can’t judge a book by it’s cover without reading the story. In To Kill a Mockingbird, people were judged on the outside without knowing them or their story. Also their innocence had been destroyed for doing nothing. Harper Lee uses symbolism throughout her entire book. It helps each and every reader to put themselves in the characters shoes and relate to them.
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses symbolism to set up the problem. One example of symbolism is the mad dog scene to represent racism. On page 92-97 Jem spots the mad dog. The dog had gotten rabies and was making his way down by them. Then Calpurnia told everyone and the …show more content…
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Page 90). Jem and Scout had just gotten their first real guns from Atticus. He wouldn’t teach them to shoot, but gave Jem good advice. But he didn’t really mean only not to kill mockingbirds. The term “mockingbirds” are different. They only sing out loud never harming others. That was a symbol for those who never harm anyone and were innocent, like Tom Robinson or Boo Radley. Tom was accused inaccurately and had to pay the price for something he didn’t do. The theme of the book leaned off of the idea of it being bad to harm, or kill the innocence. Another example shows how it contradicts the theme. “Tom’s dead.” “They shot him.” “The guards called him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. Seventeen bullet holes in him.” (Page 235) They mockingbird had been killed. The theme had been broken and Tom died for trying to escape something he didn’t do. They had shot him 17 times! Just because. Tom’s death had shown how the theme can become true. No one really cared he had died after a while. If he had been accused today he would have never gotten killed, never been sentenced guilty. But he wasn’t and that part of history was worse than ever. The theme shows through the multiple symbolism
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses symbolism to set up the problem. One example of symbolism is the mad dog scene to represent racism. On page 92-97 Jem spots the mad dog. The dog had gotten rabies and was making his way down by them. Then Calpurnia told everyone and the …show more content…
“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Page 90). Jem and Scout had just gotten their first real guns from Atticus. He wouldn’t teach them to shoot, but gave Jem good advice. But he didn’t really mean only not to kill mockingbirds. The term “mockingbirds” are different. They only sing out loud never harming others. That was a symbol for those who never harm anyone and were innocent, like Tom Robinson or Boo Radley. Tom was accused inaccurately and had to pay the price for something he didn’t do. The theme of the book leaned off of the idea of it being bad to harm, or kill the innocence. Another example shows how it contradicts the theme. “Tom’s dead.” “They shot him.” “The guards called him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. Seventeen bullet holes in him.” (Page 235) They mockingbird had been killed. The theme had been broken and Tom died for trying to escape something he didn’t do. They had shot him 17 times! Just because. Tom’s death had shown how the theme can become true. No one really cared he had died after a while. If he had been accused today he would have never gotten killed, never been sentenced guilty. But he wasn’t and that part of history was worse than ever. The theme shows through the multiple symbolism