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Theme Of Literary Devices In To Kill A Mockingbird

Decent Essays

Name of Device
Quotation
Connect the device
Connect the meaning (Theme)
Symbolism
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in 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.” (Lee 93).
Lee employs symbolism to illustrate Tom Robinson being falsely accused; as mockingbirds are often mistaken for a bird they are imitating. Symbolism is important because it shows the connection between the title of the book and the storyline. As the reader, we are able to see that just like a mockingbird mistaken for other birds, Tom Robinson was mistakenly seen guilty.
Tom Robinson is one of the mockingbirds (along with …show more content…

Alliteration a widow’s walk was on the roof, but no widows walked there—from it (Lee 82).
This use of alliteration shows the importance of family standards which is why the letters are repeated. Lee uses alliteration when key details need to be noticed by the reader.
The use of alliteration when describing where Atticus’s family lived continues the importance of reputation. Having a good reputation to the society of Maycomb is extremely important as many members will hear and rumour/reputation and treat it as the truth.
Metaphor
You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-” “-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 30).
This metaphor used by Lee demonstrates to the reader that one must have lived and truly understood what someone has gone through to truly being able to see the truth. Just like a metaphor is a comparison of two different things, two people could be that far apart in experience, which makes for a difficult time for the inexperienced one to understand.
The context this metaphor was used in was when Scout was telling Atticus she didn’t want to attend school anymore. Scout who lives in a good and clean home may not understand other children (such as the Ewells) who attend school only once a year. The Ewell’s reputation in Maycomb is much lower and less respected than the Finch’s.
Simile
By the time Mrs. Cat called the drugstore for an order of chocolate malted mice the class was

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