Role of Symbolism in “To Kill a Mockingbird”

Introduction

To Kill a Mockingbird is Harper Lee's only novel. When it was published in 1960, it attracted considerable admiration. Lee was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for it in 1961, after which it was made into a successful film, which won an Academy Award in 1962.

Because of her penetration of a child's psyche and because of her easy, free-flowing style, Lee is often compared to Mark Twain. She is apparently directly indebted to him for the courthouse balcony scene in her novel, which is reminiscent of the scene from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) in which Tom and Huck, crouching in the church balcony, witness their own funerals (Claudia, Pp. 17).

Discussion

There can be several theme found in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The narrative is basically about justice. Still, the inference is that an improved society is emerging. Scout and Jem are relatively color-blind despite the environment in which they were reared. They also learn through their encounters with Boo Radley not to make hasty judgments about the people they know only through rumor or slight contact.

Most critics agree that the strength of To Kill a Mockingbird lies in Harper Lee's use of the point of view of Scout. This point of view works in two ways: It is the voice of a perceptive, independent six-year-old girl and at the same time it is the mature voice of a woman telling about her childhood in retrospect. Lee skillfully blends these voices so that the reader recognizes that both are working at the same time but that neither detracts from the story. Through the voice of the child and the mature reflection of the adult (Champion, Pp. 234),

Lee is able to relate freshly the two powerful events in the novel: Atticus Finch's ...