Symbolism in To Kill a
Mockingbird
February 11th, 2015
Emily Laird
The setting of To Kill a Mockingbird and the racial relations during the time period in
which the book is set provide many opportunities for racial symbolism that are brought forth
through incidents with the children that highlight their naïve personalities. The first moment in
which symbolism is used occurs when the children build a snowman by packing brown mud
together and coating it with the crisp white snow from Miss Maudie’s yard. Another event in
which readers could interpret an everyday object to mean something more significant towards
the racism during that time period is when Jem attacks Mrs. Dubose’s white camellia flowers and
doesn’t stop until they are completely ruined. One final event in which this type of symbolism is
demonstrated is in Atticus’s lecture about shooting mockingbirds and blue jays and its
connection to the shocking ending of the novel. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee,
depicts many of the racial struggles of the African American minority in the 1930s in the South,
through symbolism that exposes the innocence of the Finch children.
When the first snowfall in Maycomb County finally arrives after years of waiting, Jem
and Scout decide to build a snowman. There is not enough accumulation to make it entirely out
of snow so Jem begins by constructing the body out of mud. On top of the dirty black layer, he
piles on the fluffy snow, turning his masterpiece white, like the rest of his family (Lee 85-89).
“...the creation of the snowman by Jem can be seen as being symbolic of Jem trying to cover up
the black man and showing that he is the same as the white man, that all human beings are
virtually the same” (Smykowski 1), writes Smykowski; highlighting the notion that Jem was
trying to cover up who the man really was to show that blacks and whites are, in essence, the
same (Smykowski 1). The fire at Miss Maudie's house the following evening melts the white
layer from Jem's snowman, leaving nothing but a pile of black dirt. The fire illustrates how the
racists in their small Alabama town will never agree with Jem or admit that blacks and whites are
even close to being the same (Smykowski 1). The fact that Jem really thought the other people in
his community would agree with him emphasizes his juvenile understanding of the hateful world
he is living in yet again. Another way that readers could interpret the symbolism of the snowman would be to look
at the snowman as a mixed-race child, or a depiction of miscegenation (Smykowski 1).
Emancipation of blacks, the first move the country made towards freeing slaves, put into
question whether or not there would still be such a great divide between the two racial groups,
and whether African Americans were still to be considered inferior. Slavery set the original
boundaries for relationships between the two groups, and now this was under consideration as
well. Initially following Reconstruction, sexual interactions between the two groups was
considered acceptable but eventually gave way to complete disapproval (Novkov Para 1). When
miscegenation was eventually banned, its sole purpose was to maintain white’s purity. By
reproducing offspring with their black partners, white men and women potentially threatened this
purity by creating a child who could pass for white, but really had traces of a substandard race
inside of them (Novkov Para 3). The fire in this scenario would again represent prejudice in
Maycomb, and the bigots’ disapproval of mixed-race relations; saying that a mixed child, in
reality, is no better than a fully black child (Smykowski 1). This disapproval is demonstrated
later in the novel in two instances, the first with Dolpus Raymond and the second with Tom
Robinson and Mayella Ewell. By having Jem build this biracial snowman, Harper Lee may be
implying a symbol of miscegenation.
When Jem is riled up from the day’s events involving insults thrown at his father by Mrs.
Dubose, he "ran wildly flailing up the steps into Mrs. Dubose's front yard... He did not begin to
calm down until he had cut the tops of every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned" (Lee 137).
This is another case in which Lee is using an inanimate object to represent a more important
meaning in the novel. The white color of the camellia flowers could represent the prejudiced
whites in Maycomb and by Jem destroying them it shows his attempts to put an end to this
racism, but also his inexperienced state because it was obvious that racism could not be ended
that easily. Later, when Atticus forces Jem to apologize to Mrs. Dubose by taking care of her
flowers in an attempt to nurse them back to health, Jem’s agreement to do so symbolizes his
courage and his ability to tolerate what the whites say about him and his family. (Smykowski 2) New York Notes writes, "Mrs. Dubose's camellias represent the prejudices which cannot
be brushed off easily." This said, camellias are the type of flowers which will not die if you just
rip a piece off from the top; they will just grow right back, unless you rip them out by the roots.
This symbolizes the stubbornness of racism and how even if you try to make it disappear it will
always make its return. "...living in the south was living under terrorism. It wasn't that black
people had to use a separate drinking fountain or couldn't sit at lunch counters, or had to sit in the
back of the bus...It was that white people, mostly white men, occasionally went berserk, and
grabbed random black people... and lynched them… It made life miserable, stressful and
terrifying for black people" (Hamden 2). The whites who chose not to associate themselves with
blacks never had the opportunity to understand how truly terrifying it was for blacks, but Jem, on
the other hand, saw firsthand how harsh people could be. Another symbol that Lee associated
with the flowers was that they could actually be Mrs. Dubose. The special type of camellias that
Mrs. Dubose plants in her yard are called "snow-on-the-mountains," one of the most posh known
flowers. Snow is both cold and white, which could represent Mrs. Dubose's personality and skin
color and the "posh" status of these flowers could symbolize her standing in the community
(Helleson 2). "Shoot all the bluejays you want if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a
mockingbird” (Lee 119), Atticus says before he sends Jem and Scout off with their new rifles.
Bluejays, like the prejudiced people of Maycomb County, are known as the "bullies" of the bird
world. "They are very loud, territorial, and aggressive." (Smykowski 2-3). The bluejays
symbolize characters in the story like Bob Ewell who will not give up in their attempts to spread
racism and insults, while the mockingbirds, innocent beautiful birds, represent people like Tom
Robinson who are the victims in the situation. The mockingbirds are innocent and would never
harm anyone intentionally, making it a sin for someone to harm them. (Smykowski 3) “Its
connection with Boo and Tom is made clear…” at the end of the book “where Scout recognizes
that the public exposure of Boo would be ‘sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird’ ” (Helleson 1).
This ending shows readers how Scout and Jem both have transitioned into more mature children
and have a deeper understanding of the racism in Maycomb than they had at the beginning of the
story.
To Kill a Mockingbird illustrates many of the hardships of the African Americans in the
1930s in the South, by using metaphors that uncover the innocence of the Finch children.
Metaphors are used extensively in literature as a basic tool. Metaphors do not necessarily show
that things are alike but they help readers make things alike (DiPiero Para 6). Harper Lee uses
this technique constantly throughout her novel, each symbol teaching lessons about the struggles
of racism in the time period in which the book takes place. Harper Lee's broad use of symbolism
throughout the novel centers on turning inanimate objects into symbols that tell the heartwrenching truths of the South's racism in the 1930s (Smykowski 1). From a biracial snowman
representing miscegenation to a bunch of flowers representing racist whites to a mockingbird
representing innocent beings who are the victims of racism, all of the symbols that Harper Lee
includes convey a very strong message to readers. These symbols demonstrate how the children
in the story transform from innocent inexperienced kids, to understanding young adults
throughout the journey the novel follows.