Use of Symbols and Symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird :: Kill Mockingbird essays

Use of symbol in To Kill a Mockingbird     Harper Lee in effect uses symbolism throughout her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.  Jems nursing of the flowers denotes his courage that he nurses in range to be able to tolerate peoples criticism of his family, in particular of his father. He was forced to take care of the camellias just as he was forced to live with anger, disappointment and a big question chink in his young heart about the workings of grownups. Atticus never thought Jemd be the one and only(a) to lose his head over this (110). heretofore Jem did lose his head and now he has to key the strength to control his emotions in order to avoid further trouble. This courage was hard to find but Mrs Dubose did find it and managed to break herself from morphine before she died. She alike made sure Jem got a white waxy camellia she had prepared for him. The waxy camellia, the Snow-on-the-Mountain (118), could be a symbol of courage. She built her spirit secon dary by little just as when she was making the camellia. Now it is Jems turn to build his own. And as the camellia out of wax does not wither, in the same sense, aline courage may be hard to build, but once built, it never leaves you.             Mrs Duboses camellias are not the only flowers that terminate be seen symbolically. Mayella Ewells red geraniums also carry an important meaning. During the Robinson trial the reader is given a commentary of the Ewells property. It is said that what passed for a fence was bits of tree-limbs , broomsticks and tool shafts, all tipped with rusted hammer-heads, snaggle-toothed rake heads, shovels, axes and grubbing hoes, held on with pieces of barbed wire. Enclosed by this barricade was a dirty yard containing the remains of a Model-T Ford, a discarded dentists chair, an old-fashioned ice-box, plus lesser items old shoes, worn-out table radios, picture frames, and take jars, under which scrawny orange chickens pecked hopefully. (176) The general picture one acquires by this description is that of a small dump, a place completely disordered like the playhouse of an insane child (176). One can easily guess the rank of the people who lived there. However, against the fence, in a line, were half dozen chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson.