Month: April 2015

The white community in To kill a mockingbird is rightly satirised because of their lack of priorities and hypocrisy. Despite the chilling fate of Tom Robinson they care more about the gossip surrounding the Finch Children. From the

A semantic field can be used to imply messages in a text without actually using the exact words that could be used to give the information to the reader.

One example of this is the reference to mockingbirds, an ongoing reference to characters in the novel. The quote “…the court room was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still” is juxtaposing the court room to the cold morning-the cold and bitterness of the winter is simbolising the cold from the people in the room. Although it is never stated word for word in the book we know that Tom Robinson and other individuals who only do good (such as Atticus) are represented by mockingbirds. We can see from the semantic field that Harper Lee is trying to show that Tom Robinson and those on the losing side have all become silent as they know the fate of the trial.

The semantic field is an important authorial technique to reveal information or portray certain feelings without directly stating them.

As well as the obvious characters such as Tom Robinson many others also portray the role of being a mockingbird in the the book. Mixing with coloured people can not be counted as a sin and not one that should be challenged. However he is looked down upon by the people of Maycomb County and is thought to only do what he does (e.g. have mixed race children) because of his drinking problem. Eliminating all reasons to be penalised his innocence is destroyed- making him a mockingbird.

The symbolism of a mockingbird is the idea of a being that does no harm, simply just helps out yet their innocence is destroyed by civilisation. “You can shoot all the blue jays you want but you know it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” This quotation explains that there is no harm being done condemning a man that does not bring goodness to the community yet it is a sin if they have.

Following a description of Mrs Merriweather that says she is the ‘most devout lady in maycomb’ she then is stereotypical a d racist about people with black skin. This is satirical because it us mocking the political correctness of the situation and showing the problems in a humourous manor.