Symbolism and Allegory in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay -- Kill Mockingb

Symbolism and Allegory in To bug out a Mockingbird harpist Lee uses symbolisationism extensively passim To Kill a Mockingbird,, and more than of it refers to the problems of racism in the South during the wee twentieth century. Harper Lees effective use of racial symbolism and fable whoremonger be seen by studying various examples from the book, namely the actions of the children, of the racialist whites, and of Atticus Finch. One of the more effective allegories in the novel is the structure of a snowman by Jem and Scout. There was not enough snow to move over a snowman entirely out of snow, so Jem made a fanny out of dirt and then covered it with what snow they had. If the snowman was made all in all out of snow, Jems action would not be so signifi stinkpott. Scout is actually surprised when she sees the brown snowman and she exclaims Jem, I aint never heard of a common racoon snowman. (72), and to this Jem replies He wont be black long. (72). Scouts words indicate th e strange nature of the snowman which is half-black, half-white. Jem, however did not find it peculiar and he scooped up around snow and began plastering it on. Gradually Mr. Avery turned white? (73). The symbol of the snowman, like every other symbol in literature, may necessitate various interpretations depending on the reading of the individual. In the specific case the snowman can be seen in two ways. Firstly, this alteration from black to white can be considered as a merging of the two races into one, without any differences amid them to separate them, an equality of black and white commonwealth. The change of colour (black to white) suggests the shallowness of the colour of the skin, which should not be a criterion for judging people and dividing them into categories. Atticuss... ...r the two victims of human malice suggests the power Harper Lee sees in symbolism, which carries the message better than words. At this point she seems to agree with J.B.S. Haldane, a Britis h Scientist, who stated In fact, words are well adapted for verbal description and the arousing of emotion, but for many kinds of precise thought other symbols are much better (Tripp). Perhaps this is the reason Harper Lee chooses to declare her rejection of injustice and racism through the use of symbols because they are more effective than words. workings CitedLee, Harper. To Kill A Mockingbird. 1960. New York Warner Books, 1982. Tripp, Rhoda Thomas. The International Thesaurus of Quotations. New York Harper and Row, 1990. To Kill a Mockingbird. Sparknotes LLC. 2003. Barnes & Noble Learning Network. 2 Nov. 2003 .