What Does The Snow Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Symbolism in Story With Scout and Sick Town In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 33). This quote to the young main character, Scout, shows a warning against prejudice that is strongly expressed throughout the novel. The book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee was written in the 1960s, but the story takes place in the 1930s, in a small town called Maycomb, Alabama. The story is about the Finch family, including Atticus, Scout, and Jem. Scout Finch, the main character, is the narrator of the story and during the story, a young child who grows, becoming more aware of the issues in the …show more content…

Scout narrates, “Jem scooped up an armful of dirt. until he had constructed a torso. Jem sloshed water over the mud man and added more dirt.Jem scooped up some snow and began plastering it on. Gradually [The Snowman] turned white”(Lee 75). The Snowman is made from mud and snow, representing the black and white communities in the story. The snow covers up the dirt, also representing purity, covering the dirty sin. Scout narrates that “Gradually [The Snowman] turned white”, which means that it whitewashes the trial, hiding the evidence, causing Tom to be convicted. With all the evidence contrary to Mayella and Bob’s claims, it is only logical that Tom would not be convicted, but the jury is prejudiced, ignoring the evidence. This is how the Snowman stands for the racism in Maycomb, covered in purity, hiding the sin, whitewashing the trial. Later in the story, Tom Robinson is convicted, which is foreshadowed by the Snowman. Since the Snowman is built off of the dirt, which represents the black community, the Snowman foreshadows the black community being suppressed, and …show more content…

Scout narrates, “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted, and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. Judge Taylor was polling the jury: “Guilty. guilty. guilty. guilty.” (Lee 240). The jury refusing to look at Tom is a sign of guilt. It shows that the jury knows that he was not guilty, but still chose to say he was guilty, because of societal pressure, and personal ideals. The black truth was covered and erased by white snowy lies. This is how the Snowman foreshadows the trial and Tom’s conviction. In summary, these symbols in To Kill A Mockingbird all foreshadow events later in the book. Overall, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee was a good book protesting racism in society in the 1960s. Many of the ideas were progressive for the time since this book was published before the civil rights movement grew popular. In the 1960s, much of the language she used was acceptable, even if it is not now, which shows the progression of civil rights and the movement over time. This book is a protest against racism and calls out the unjust methods that courts use to

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