by Ella Knight

Created on: July 29, 2008

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird', Harper Lee addresses many controversial issues. Issue such as discrimination, racism, and social class are explored in depth. In the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, the mentality of the majority of southern people reflected that of entire America. Most of the people were racist and discriminatory. In the novel, these issues are explored through the eyes of the narrator, a young girl names Scout and her older brother Jem. When their father, Atticus Finch tells them, Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird,' (ch. 10) when the children get air-rifles for Christmas, he is referring to the notion that the mockingbird is innocent; it sings beautiful songs of other birds, whereas a blue jay is a loud, obnoxious bird, a bully among birds. This is where symbolism throughout the novel begins to come in.

In the novel, Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill are curious about Arthur Boo' Radley, their neighbour. It was said that he had done terrible things in his youth and that his father had locked him up in the house. He hadn't come out for 25 years. The children fear him because of the stories they hear about him from the town people. For example, Miss Stephanie tells them that while Boo was sitting in his living room cutting a magazine he drove the scissors into his father's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants and resumed his activities' (ch. 1).
The actions of the children also have their shares of symbolism. One winter, Jem and Scout built a snowman. There was not enough snow so Jem made a foundation of dirt and covered it up with what snow they had. One could interpret this in two different ways: the creation of the snowman can, perhaps, be seen as symbolic of Jem trying to cover black dirt with white snow, thus attempting to show that all human beings, whether black or white, are equal. On the other hand, the black and white snowman may symbolise the relationship between the black and white people. The fire that burned Miss Maudie Atkinson's house can be seen as the prejudice of Maycomb and its people. When the heat melted the snowman, there was nothing left but mud. This can also be depicted as prejudice in the sense that a mixed child is, in fact, no better than a pure black child. Both are unwanted in the society.
The story centres around the trial of Tom Robinson, a Negro convicted of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. To the people of Maycomb County, Tom Robinson

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