《杀死一只知更鸟》中的象征手法

摘要：象征主义是19世纪末在法国及西方几个国家出现的一种艺术思潮，它涉及了事物的本质，通过特定的形象来表达自己的观点或者内心隐藏的情感。《杀死一只知更鸟》是英国青少年最喜爱的小说之一。在这本书中，作者运用了大量的象征手法。本文将分析《杀死一只知更鸟》中象征主义手法的运用，从人物象征、自然象征、动物象征三个方面着手分析，哈伯.李抨击了社会的黑暗和揭露了人性的阴暗面。

关键词：象征手法 意义 斯各特 知更鸟

1 Introduction

Nelle Harper Lee was one of two persons named by President Johnson to the National Council of Arts. His work, To Kill A Mockingbird, uses a lot of symbolism to express his views. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. In addition, Symbolism is not content to depict clear lines. What its artistic effect is not to make readers understand exactly what to say, but to realize that this is profound.( Daiwei. Fang tan na.2001:130) Through symbolism, the book is more vivid and makes the author more space to think. The title of To Kill A Mockingbird has little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great of symbolic weight in the book. (Harper Lee, 1998:201)The article analyzes To Kill A Mockingbird from three angles: symbolic figures, natural symbols, animal symbols.

2.The Symbolic Art in To Kill A Mockingbird

2.1 Symbolic Figures

There are many typical characters in the book. Some come to represent the idea of morality, innocence and pure, such as Atticus, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.

Atticus, a lawyer in Maycomb, has instilled in his children his strong sense of convictions, justice and morality. Especially, he emphasizes education of children. What’s more, he is one of the few residents of the town committed to racial equality. However, the book’s ultimate moral view is not bleak, on the contrary, it is characterized by Atticus’s understanding of both the goodness and badness within people. Throughout the book, Boo Radley is a recluse who never sets foot outside his house. He is damaged by his cruel father, however, he has a pure heart that sometimes he leaves a little presents for Scout and Jem, even save Scout’s life.( Shaffer, David. R, 2005) He is one of the book’s” mockingbirds”, an innocence person. Moreover, Scout thinks that injuring Boo Radley is the same to killing a mockingbird. There is another typical “mockingbird”—Tom Robinson, who is a black man and accused of rape. As clear as it is that Tom is innocent, it is equally clear that Tom is doomed to die. He is not only sacrificed under the racial prejudice, but also an important symbol of innocence destroyed by contact with evil of human. The other characters represent the idea of evil or crime, for example, Bob Ewell. He is a drunken and permanently unemployed person of Maycomb’s poorest family. He accuses that Tom Robinson raped his daughter, despite of his fault. Ewell represents the dark face：ignorance, silly and hate-filled racial prejudice.

2.2 Natural Symbols

The camellia is Mrs. Dubose left Jem for memory, however Jem thinks that Mrs. Dubose, who is an ill-tempered and racist woman,is a thoroughly bad woman. Thus, Jem refuses to accept the camellia when she is going to dying. From the white color, camellia comes to represent the bright side: innocence, victories and pure of the soul. The pitch-dark night of the pageant represents the evil side. Before Jem and Scout leave the house, Aunt Alexandra has an ominous sense of foreboding. Then, they hear the noise of their pursuer and assume it to be Cecil Jacobs, only to realize quickly that they are in danger. All of these happen at the pitch-dark night, which symbolizes the evil of human.

In the Bob Ewell’s family, the only corner of the yard is planted with well-tended geraniums rumored to belong to Maycomb. The only well-tended place contrast shapely with the other place. The geraniums are compared to innocence, pure of soul.

There are different kinds of obvious and hidden doors in the book. Tom Robinson recounts that Mayella asked him to come inside the house and fix a door. However, the door pushes him to death. There are doors between the black man and the white man. No matter how hard they try, they never enter each other’s world. Just the doors make Tom Robinson’s death despite of his innocence. In addition, Boo Radley never sets foot outside house, and the door prevents him to know the outer world and different kinds of happiness in his grown up. Meanwhile, he is afraid of harming by contact with evil. In the end, Boo Radley crosses out the door of his soul, and even saves Scout’s life, which symbolizes innocence of soul, morality can conquer in the evil of human. Obviously, the door has a good effect on people. For instance, Scout and Jem go through Mrs. Dubose’s door, they begin to know her another face：her brave against the opium, her insistence. From the door, different kinds of people explore the truth, enlighten people see the nature from the phenomenon.

2.3Animal Symbols

The book's title, To Kill A Mockingbird, comes from the advice of Attics that you can play blue jays, but you should remember that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird .The mockingbird does not harm people, but only “sing their hearts out for us”. Thus, the mockingbird in the book comes to represent the idea of good, innocence and pure. Although mockingbird is rarely mentioned, a lot of characters who has been destroyed has became “mockingbirds”. The connection between the book’s title and its main idea closely: After Tom Robinson is shot, Mr. Underwood compares his death to “the senseless slaughter of songbirds” and most important, Scout develops a more grown-up perspective that hunting Boo Radley would be like killing a mockingbird. That Jem and Scout’s last name is Finch (another type of small type) indicates that Maycomb often treats the fragile innocence of childhood harshly.

The mad dog was shot by Atticus immediately when the dog appears in the Finches’ house. The incident with the mad dog demonstrates Atticus’s courage and symbolizes the town’s dependence upon his protection from both the rabid animal and worst evil within themselves.

Conclusion

Nelle Harper Lee holds a keen sight for American southern. The book is beloved by millions of readers worldwide for its appealing depiction of childhood innocence, its scathing moral condemnation of racial prejudice, and its affirmation that human goodness can withstand the assault of evil. Different kinds of symbols contribute in the themes, make the book more space to think and represents abstract ideas or concepts. Thus, it is necessary for people to use symbolism in their articles. From the symbolic uses, the author deepens the themes, which is exploration of the moral nature of human beings-that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil.

References

[1] Harper Lee. To Kill A Mockingbird [M] Grand Central Publishing,1988.

[2]包涵，A Brief Analysis of the Major Character Atticus in Miss Lee’s Book-To Kill A Mockingbird[M] 九江师专学报，1993，（01）

[3]Shaffer, David. R. Development psychology. Childhood&Adolescence.6th ed. Trans. Zou Hong, et al. Beijing China Light Industry Press, 2005

[4] 戴维.方袒纳.象征世界的语言[M]北京：中国青年出版社，2001.

[5] 何仲生，项晓敏.欧美现代文学史[M]上海：复旦大学出版社，2002.

[6] 黄晋凯.象征主义#意象派[M].北京：中国人民大学出版社，1989.

《杀死一只知更鸟》中的象征手法