In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, there are several flowers being attributed to specific characters. The flowers in the novel are being used as a symbol to why these characters were given this exact flower. The four characters were Mrs. Dubose and she took on the Camellia, Miss Maudie Atkinson who had the Azalea, Mayella Ewell who had not one but two flowers the Violet and Geranium, and lastly Calpurnia who attained the Calpurnia flower. Mrs. Dubose, Miss Maudie, Mayella Ewell, and Calpurnia and the flowers they are associated with, provide a great deal of symbolism which allows a better understanding of a them. The flower, that is most distinctive to Mrs. Dubose, is the Camellia. Mrs. Dubose is the epitome of racism in Maycomb. …show more content…
Racism grew rapidly in the south and it takes time to kill, in order to terminate it you must tackle it by the roots. Camellia’s are just as hard to kill. They may look like gorgeous flowers, but underneath them lies a horrific weed. Jem once cut the tops off of all her Camellia’s, he did this to payback Mrs. Dubose in a form of vengeance after she had insulted Atticus for assisting a fellow negro. In response, Mrs. Dubose said to Jem “Thought you could kill my Snow-on-the-Mountain, did you?”(Pg. 146) Since Camellia’s are hard to kill you must kill them by the roots, thus making Jem fail in his unkind act. When Mrs. Dubose passed away, Jem was left with a single Camellia, this single Camellia could represent that racism will always be persistent unless you make a change to stop it. Why is Miss Maudie Atkinson associated with Azalea’s? She corresponds to the flower because they both have an abundance of integrity. Miss Maudie Atkinson stays positive even though she is surrounded by the abhorrence of Maycomb. Azaleas can grow in indigent conditions, meaning that they can still prosper in a not so good state. Miss Maudie Atkinson is like most of the women in Maycomb, but she is not easily persuaded by them. You can tell she’s a mentally strong woman when Scout says “...she would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty.”(Pg. 56) It was almost as if Scout was portraying Miss Maudie Atkinson as a royal queen of some sort. Miss Maudie Atkinson was also a opinionated woman. Her being opinionated can relate to the Azalea by the opening of their blossoms all at once. How is Mayella Ewell similar to Geraniums?
Mayella is like the resilient flower because they’re considered to be the “poor man’s rose” hence her life style. She’s also different from the rest of the Ewell’s, and she wants to be better than her surroundings. Mayella uses these flowers to cover up the waste in her life, so that she can seek beauty within herself. The quote “Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums…”(Pg. 228) tells us that she was purposely putting them in something intended for human waste to disguise it, to make her surroundings look more superior. People say Geraniums smell similar to cats, others differ and say they smell like citrus which repels cats. Like a cat though Mayella needs companionship but she is very lonely, so it’s hard for her to find one. She finds a small companionship with Tom Robinson, but she then turns on him later at a important event. That important event being the court …show more content…
case. Calpurnia has her very own flower, The Calpurnia Flower.
The Calpurnia flower is a healing flower, and this relates to Calpurnia not just by the name, but because she takes care of the kids and looks after them. Calpurnia has two life’s. When she would be with the Finch’s, she would speak properly, she would be responsible, and she would do whatever she was asked to do. When she’s with her friends and family though, she’s more expressive, and she speaks improperly. Her two life’s relate to the Calpurnia flower and how it takes on two forms, those forms being a flower and pod. When Scout says “Calpurnia was something else again..”(Pg. 6-7) this could mean Scout was starting to notice the different personalities Calpurnia would take on when he was with the Finch’s or her
friends. In addition, Mayella is also affiliated with another flower...the violet. Mayella is between two societies. A society of slobs(that being her family) and a society of negroes. She doesn’t completely fit with either of them because white people had nothing to do with the Ewell’s since they were the lowest on the society scale, and negroes had nothing to do with her because she was simply white. These two relate because they are both in a “in-between” situation. The violet is a flower that is a in-between color of blue and purple, and Mayella is stuck between two different societies. The quote “...it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world.”(Pg. 256) also tells us she was very lonesome and that she wasn’t in a society from the get go. Flowers represent more than just a smell, especially in this novel. The Azalea symbolizes the strength and power in Miss Maudie Atkinson. The Camellia shows us the ugliness, not physically, but verbally and the immorality of racism that lives in Mrs. Dubose. The Geranium represents the beauty that Mayella is trying find in her life and the Violet represents the two societies she is between, and the Calpurnia flower provides the caring and the two sides of Calpurnia. To conclude, the novel has many flowers with hidden meanings, and if they were not in the novel then we wouldn’t have a good representation of these characters.
The lilac flower is meant to be in remembrance of an old love. Her father is so adamant on having their home to be designed in this certain time era, where men did things that would be consider really feminine without being labeled or ridicule by people in society. His work expressed himself thoroughly in ways no one would really understand him, if only they were in his shoes. For Allison this was all new to her. Unlike her father who knew he was homosexual around her age and didn’t act on it as much as she did. She experimented just as he, but she didn’t hide it after she was fully aware she was a lesbian, unlike her
conveys an important message that the people living during this era should remain hopeful and optimistic, despite their suffering, and should focus on finding love in the world instead of dwelling on the injustice. Initially, Sarah loses her faith in God and seems like she has lost hope. However, at the end the end of the play she eventually returns to J.B. As she does so, the light increases and she says,” Look, Job: the forsythia, the first few leaves...not leaves though… petals… I found it growing in the ashes, gold as though it did not know” (MacLeish 149-151). The light increasing is a deliberate stage direction that serves to indicate the return of happiness and optimism in J.B. and Sarah’s lives. The forsythia is also a symbol that represents the return of happiness. A forsythia is a shrub whose bright yellow flowers appear in early spring before the leaves begin to grow on the branch. Sarah’s return, along with the light and the forsythia, all show that there is hope for happiness after tragedy and misfortune, and this parallels to the post-WWII era. Furthermore, when Sarah approaches J.B., he questions her departure from him and Sarah answers, “You wanted justice, didn’t you? There isn’t any. There’s the world… cry for justice and the stars will stare until your eyes sting… I loved you. I couldn’t help you anymore. You wanted justice and there was none -- only love” (MacLeish, 151). At last, the couple finds comfort in love and family, instead of dwelling on
In real life there are many different types of people, some of them are similar
To begin, the flowers represent the racism and prejudice that lies within the tight community of Maycomb, Alabama. One instance of the flowers being used as symbolism is when Camellias
word “art” which may imply something about the materialistic world that she tries to be a part of. Interestingly, and perhaps most symbolic, is the fact that the lily is the “flower of death”, an outcome that her whirlwind, uptight, unrealistic life inevitably led her to.
Flowers are incredibly important, especially in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. There are three main flowers pointed out in the course of the whole story. There are Miss Maudie’s azaleas, Mrs Dubose’s camellias, and Mayella Ewell’s geraniums. Each bloom was assigned in this way solely for the relation towards their corresponding characters. Flowers can be used to express emotion or send a message, and those associated with Maudie, Dubose, and Mayella are vital to the novel.
Symbolism. Why is it important in a novel? Why do authors incorporate symbols into their writing? Symbolism aids the reader in understanding what the author wants to portray. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, she writes about the racism in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb set in the 1930’s and about two children growing up and learning that their town is not as perfect as they thought. The theme topic appearance versus reality helps to get a better understanding of the symbols used in the novel and that you should not judge something by their appearance, you should judge by the reality of what it is. “As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it.” (Scout page 77) In her novel, there are many symbols throughout the narrative that relate to the theme topic appearance versus reality. Harper Lee writes symbols into her novel, such as the snowman, Mrs. Dubose’s Camellia flower and Dolphus Raymond’s Coca-Cola bottle to help reinforce the theme topic of appearance versus reality throughout the novel.
In Toni Morrison’s novel, The Song of Solomon, flowers are associated with romance and love, and so the way in which the central female characters interact with flora is indicative of the romance in their lives. Flowers, red roses in particular, are a universal symbol for love and fertility. Though Ruth Foster, Lena called Magdalene Dead, and First Corinthians Dead are associated with different types of flowers in distinctive ways, the purpose of the motif stays the same; flowers reveal one’s romantic status and are a precursor for the romance that is to come. Throughout the entire novel, the flowers share in common that they are not real. Some flowers appear printed, others as fake substitutes, and some are imaginary. This is an essential
Harper Lee uses symbolism extensively throughout To Kill a Mockingbird,, and much of it refers to the problems of racism in the South during the early twentieth century. Harper Lee's effective use of racial symbolism and allegory can be seen by studying various examples from the book, namely the actions of the children, of the racist whites, and of Atticus Finch.
Symbols are one of those most important things to a story. They share the meaning of themselves, as well as the meaning for something else. Symbols usually make the important ideas stick out as well as make the reader have different ideas of what is actually being said. One of the many symbols in “Paul’s Case” is flower’s. From violets to carnations, the flowers Paul talks about are ones of many meanings. The flowers represent a continual motif, expressing Paul’s character.
The main symbolic image that the flowers provide is that of life; in the first chapter of the novel Offred says “…flowers: these are not to be dismissed. I am alive.” Many of the flowers Offred encounters are in or around the house where she lives; it can be suggested that this array of floral life is a substitute for the lack of human life, birth and social interaction. The entire idea of anything growing can be seen as a substitute for a child growing. The Commander’s house contains many pictures; as they are visual images, “flowers are still allowed.” Later, when Serena is “snipping off the seed pods with a pair of shears… aiming, positioning the blades… The fruiting body,” it seems that all life is being eradicated, even that of the flowers.
Throughout all those years as the kids were growing up, Calpurnia has shown and given an immense amount of love and support towards the children, just as a mother or a motherly figure should. Atticus sees her as a faithful member of the family, and he refused of letting her go when Aunt Alexandra suggested firing her. In addition, Atticus trusts Calpurnia with the children; he trusts that she will look after them and cook them food when he is not able to. Calpurnia and Scout have grown closer as Scout grew up because often times Jem would exclude her. For instance, when Jem became close to his teenage years, he would act out often and tell Scout what to do. Scout burst into tears after one argument where Jem told her that she ought to start acting more like a girl. As a result, she fled to Calpurnia, where she offered to keep Scout company whenever she needed: “...so you just come right on in the kitchen when you feel lonesome” (131). Also, Scout stated how Calpurnia seemed glad when she appeared in the kitchen. This shows how Calpurnia is always loving and supportive when Scout needs a shoulder to cry on, and how Calpurnia cheers Scout up when she’s not having the best of days. Besides from making Scout and Jem meals everyday, Calpurnia demonstrates exceptional mothering towards Scout on a daily
These definitions of this age old symbol, the rose, evolved over time as cultures came into contact with what has now called the Language of the Flowers. This “language” first appeared in the East and was used as a form of silent communication between illiterate women in harems. During the Victorian era this form of communication began to move towards Western Europe. The first compilation of this language was written in French and then was later translated into English. (Seaton, ).The Victorians used this new method of communication to express love, sorrow and much more through the flowers that they cultivated and bought. This language of flowers or rather the use of flowers to symbolize different messages can certainly influence a story if one has knowledge of this method and chooses to interpret it in this manner.
...only known as a funeral flower. This again foreshadows the young bride’s death before her allowance of corruption. The mark on her forehead is a symbol of her mistake, a mistake she is never allowed to forget, this can be linked to the view that women are never allowed to forget a mistake made by them. Angela Carter again shows the position of women in society; once a mistake is made you are an outcast in society. This can also be linked to the biblical reference of Cane, ‘him who became an outcast’.
He describes flowers falling from the tree above her to rest on her while she sat there “humble in such a glory” (Petrarch 25). This image of a humble woman surrounded by flowers is one that is often associated with the Virgin Mary. Petrarch continues to describe the individual flowers that he sees falling onto Laura: on her skirt, her hair, the ground, the water, and another flower that “seemed to say: Here reigns Love” (Petrarch 30-31). The “Love” that the flower symbolizes could be either Cupid, due to the physical attraction that the poet has for Laura, or Jesus because of the divine qualities that Petrarch gives to Laura. The love could also be symbolic of Jesus because, as previously stated, the vision of Laura that Petrarch is describing in this sonnet is associated with the Virgin