Language Techniques

Language Techniques in To Kill a Mockingbird

Symbolism in To Kill A Mockingbird

• The mockingbird is the most significant symbol throughout the text.  Many people throughout the text are associated with this symbol and are therefore metaphorical mockingbirds, as they are innocent beings that are persecuted due to their race, background or some other type of prejudice
• Radley house is a symbol for privacy, isolation and unfriendliness – which further promotes Boo Radley’s mariginalisation from his society, as Maycomb people don’t understand the Radley’s ways of keeping the doors and windows shut.
• Nut-Grass – Miss Maudie tells the children how nut-grass (a type of weed) can “ruin a whole yard” which is a symbol for prejudice which can ‘take root’ and ruin a town like Maycomb
•  The Snowman – In chapter 8, Jem and Scout build a Snowman out of dirt and then cover it in snow.  The fact that the snowman is black underneath its thin covering of snow suggests that it’s a symbol for how everybody is the same underneath regardless of skin colour.

Speech Patterns tell us a lot about the characters

Lee changes the way people speak a lot to show the audience where they come from in society.  The way people speak shows us where they belong in society.

• The less educated (the Ewells, Cunninghams and black community) have stronger accents and use more colloquial words than the more educated townspeople (Atticus, Miss Maudie)
• Calpurnia changes how she speaks depending on whether she’s talking to black or white people

o   This is a true indication of how important speech is – as she knows she wouldn’t fit in to the black community speaking like the Finches and she won’t fit into the white community speaking like she would at home

§  LANGUAGE FORMS HER IDENTITY

Figurative Language used to describe characters

Lee gives vivid descriptions of the most important characters – this gives the reader a really clear impression of what they’re like.

• When Scout describes Mrs Dubose it’s horrifying – her face is “the colour of a dirty pillowcase” and she has “cords of saliva” on her mouth
• Mayella Ewell is described as being like a “steady-eyed cat with a twitchy tail” – it makes the reader think that she’s devious and sneaky
• Scout describes Aunt Alexandra as being like “Mount Everest” – she’s cold and imposing but also long standing – like the Finch family
• Calpurnia is described as having a hand “wide as a bed slat and twice as hard.” This suggests she isn’t afraid to discipline the children, she’s strict and stern

TASK: Can you find descriptions of the other main characters (Jem, Atticus, Boo, Bob Ewell)?

Other language devices used:

Literary Term	Means?	Example
Simile	When one thing is said to be like another, always containing the word ‘like’ or ‘as’ and allowing a comparison with things that are similar	Scout uses many in her descriptions of people – e.g. Calpurnia’s ‘hand was wide as a bed slat and twice as hard’ (chapter 1), an appropriate image as she is the housekeeper
Metaphor	Something being described as something else	Scout describes Atticus court as going ‘frog-sticking without a light’ (chapter 17) when she thinks he is starting something without sufficient equipment to deal with it
Personification	Figurative language that treats ideas as if they are people, with human attributes and feelings	The Radley house is described as ‘droopy and sick’ (chapter 1)
Malapropism	Inaccurate use of a word	When Bob Ewell says he is most definitely not ambidextrous and can use ‘one had good as the other’ (chapter 17)