How Does Miss Maudie Use Symbols In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is considered such an incredible novel arguably because of all the symbolism used in it. Many subjects mentioned had a deeper meaning than one would typically expect from a story narrated by a nine-year-old girl. Various elements with a hidden purpose added on to the book’s theme. Many inconspicuously resembled something in a way that conveyed a powerful and important message relating to the plot and/or overall moral of the story. Three specific examples perfectly demonstrating how Lee included symbolism in her work so ingeniously are found in the mockingbirds constantly mentioned, Boo Radley, and the Finches. Mockingbirds are obviously one of the most prominent examples of symbolism in the text, as the book is named To Kill a Mockingbird. Nevertheless, Miss Maudie quotes, “‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hears out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’”(119). Mockingbirds are displayed as kind-hearted creatures that only bring good and nothing but good into the world. They are not a doer of wrong or a

This is exactly what Harper Lee accomplished to do in To Kill a Mockingbird, using techniques that emphasized the racial tensions, character development and other apects of the book. By relating characters to killed mockingbirds, Lee demonstrated how they were innocent beings mistreated by society. By giving Boo Radley the name “Boo”, his character goes from someone simply misjudged to someone who is greatly feared. By naming the family of main characters after such a special bird, the Finches’ uniqueness is better developed and understood. Each of these details assisted in conveying exactly how powerful the many themes of the book were and perfectly exemplify how symbolism should be