Harper Lee’s famous American novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, struck a chord in the hearts of many across America. Although Lee was criticized for being less intellectual content to her novel, this aspect is what made it so relatable; her style has a comfortable pace as the southern storyteller comes out from within her. This novel was criticized as a children’s book for its lack of academic substance, yet there were points that Lee made through symbolism rooted in the novel. Recognizable from the very title, birds such as the Mockingbird, marked in names or by reference, were the main focus of literary symbolism.
The first and most apparent bird symbolism was the Finch. As a common bird there is nothing particularly special about them. The Finch family relates to this bird well, as Lee had intended it to be. Common, good natured people, the only difference between them and the bird is that they make a difference in the society. For, everyone knew everyone in that town, and everyone knew Atticus to be a good person, with high expectations for his kids, but he was more than that. He was a leader. When Atticus took up the case of Tom Robinson, some people’s alliance wavered, yet others completely buckled up and toppled over. “Every lawyer gets at least one case in his life that affects him personally. I guess this one’s mine.” (pg. 76) Throughout the whole case and aftermath his family supported him, like any decent family would. Family will always be there, they are the only people one can truly count on.
The Finches were not the only exceptional family in Maycomb County; the Robinsons were one of the many good families that went unnoticed by the rest of county. The robin, bluntly embedded in the name Robinson, is also another good natured and kind symbolism that relates to the character of the family accordingly. The Robinsons were represented by the father, Tom Robinson. A kind, sympathetic, honest, hard working man. So why has such a family gone unnoticed by society? They aren’t the correct race, they aren’t white, they are black. Racism creates a dark curtain blocking the view of the world outside of the town’s limits. Just past the dump Tom Robinson and his family still honor their family’s traditions of honesty and loyalty although they are treated so poorly. Tom had been sentenced unjustly, “ Tom Robinson was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (pg 241) Racism was an ugly mask over the face of many too afraid to be persecuted the same way the blacks were to take it off. And because of racism Tom Robinson was identified by more than just one bird.
The Mockingbird is the final and most important of the bird symbolisms. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up peoples corncribs; they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (pg 90) Jem and Scout have been told time and time again not to shoot at mockingbirds; they have been told to treat all people with the same respect. Now, knowing that Tom Robinson is a family man, an honest man, a man with a dream of his own, just makes what the government did that much worse. To save money – precious court time – the government seriously considers killing an innocent man, and they make the decision whether he will live based upon the color of his skin. It doesn’t make anything better to cover their hands doings with lies, insulting the intelligence of black people and taking an innocent father away from his children and wife. It was a “typical” death for Maycomb. “Mr. Underwood simply figured that it was a sin to kill cripples, be they sitting, standing or escaping. He likened Tom’s death to the senseless slaughter of songbirds.” A song bird being a Mockingbird, the Mockingbird being Tom.
There is no mistake in saying that the main underline of this story was the cruelty of racism. Racism was cast over that town like a cloud. It was ever looming over the south; denser and murkier in some places. Thinner and lighter in others, but it was there all the same. It took years and many people to remind us to treat everyone as if they were a Mockingbird, for Tom Robinson wasn’t the only black man victim to this injustice. In any trial, every man, black or white, is innocent until proven guilty and the outcome of their trial will depend on the nature of their character, not the color of their skin.
