Symbolism in To Kill a Mockingbird

        The mockingbird is also used to symbolise innocence through a number of characters. Tom Robinson is a sort of mockingbird. He is a good person who was only helping Mayella Ewell but he got caught up with her family and this leads to his death. Tom Robinson has not harmed anyone; in fact he has served the white community with his labour just as the mockingbird serves humanity with its song. After Tom’s death, Mr Underwood’s editorial in the Maycomb Tribune draws out the comparison to the mockingbirds ‘…he likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds by hunters and children…’. The use of this symbolism is illustrating the loss or destruction of innocence by evil. As a negroe, Tom Robinson could not convince prejudiced townspeople of his innocence, which ultimately destroyed him.

Arthur (Boo) Radley is another mockingbird. He does not harm anyone; instead he leaves Jem and Scout presents and covers Scout with a blanket during the fire. Despite the pureness of his heart, Boo has been damaged by an abusive father. When Atticus tries to explain to Scout why Arthur must be spared the publicity which would result from informing the community of his part in the children’s escape from Mr Ewell, she understands at one, ‘…well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’ The reference to the mockingbird symbolises Arthur (Boo) Radley’s kindness, innocence and vulnerability. He would have been vulnerable to the towns’ prejudice which would have resulted in the destruction of his innocence.

        Mockingbirds are also used as symbols of happiness and security, symbols of a world without fear or evil. This was evident when the mad dog was approaching the house ‘…the trees were still, the mockingbirds were silent, the carpenters at Miss Maudie’s house had vanished.’ The reference to the mockingbirds falling silent symbolises that the situation is ugly and dangerous which is in contrast to what they represent when they are singing their hearts out for us.

        The fullest description of the mockingbird comes towards the end of the book, when Scout and Jem are walking to the pageant at night ‘high above us in the darkness a solitary mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful unawareness of whose tree he sat in, plunging from the shrill kee, kee of the sunflower bird to the irascible qua – ack of a bluejay, to the sad lament of a Poor Will, Poor Will, Poor Will.’ The mockingbird is a mimic, capable of imitating the songs of different birds. It is doing exactly what Atticus has told the children that they should try to do; to stand in other people’s shoes. The suggestion here is that the mockingbird is more flexible than human beings as it constantly takes the part of other birds.

        As is evidenced by the above, mockingbirds are used in a variety of ways as symbols of innocence, goodness, happiness and security. The mockingbirds in the novel are the innocent, who bring pleasure to others and this was evidenced in the characters of Tom Robinson and Arthur (Boo) Radley. Harper Lee shows us that it is a sin to kill or injure such people. The symbolism implied in the title To Kill a Mockingbird means to destroy innocence and happiness. It is no accident, perhaps, that the best human being in the story is given the name of a bird – Finch.