Theme Of Flowers In To Kill A Mockingbird

In the novel, flowers are directly used as symbolism; Ms. Dubose has Camellias, Mayella has Geraniums, and Miss. Maudie Atkinson has her Azaleas.

“Against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as if they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson...people said they belonged to Mayella Ewell” (Pg. 228). Geraniums are known as the “poor man’s rose”. In addition, they are grown in something intended for human waste. This tells the readers that she desires to be better than her surroundings. She wants to experience love and

Miss Maudie is an avid gardener and grows many different types of flowers, but she is best known for her azalea bushes, which she tends to especially carefully. Throughout the book, whenever Scout thinks about Miss Maudie and what she cares about, the phrase "Miss Maudie and her azaleas" comes up as often, if not more, than the phrase "Miss Maudie and her garden". Why is this character so strongly associated with azaleas? It may have to do with the azalea flower's symbolic meanings. According to the flower symbolism page of livingartsoriginals.com, azaleas traditionally symbolize temperance, passion and fragility.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses Alabama’s state flower, the camellia, to represent prejudice. Mrs. Dubose’s camellias represent the prejudices in Maycomb County that cannot be easily overlooked or disregarded. In chapter 11, Mrs. Dubose says to Jem, “Your father is no better than the niggers and trash he works for!”(Lee 135). Consequently, Jem destroys her camellia bushes in an attempt to demolish the racism and prejudice that Mrs. Dubose displays. When explaining the purpose of his invasion, Jem says, “She said you lawed for niggers and trash” (Lee 138). By saying this, Jem explains that his reason for destroying Mrs. Dubose’s beloved camellias is that she was making racist and prejudicial remarks (“What Do the Camellias Symbolize”).

To Kill A Mockingbird is a book that a reader can turn again and again, gaining new insights and knowledge into life each time. Sometimes an author uses a motif- a frequently repeated incident or idea -to get a certain theme across to the reader. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee uses motifs to clarify her messages or insights about life. Three specific motifs that Lee uses throughout the whole story are the mockingbird, courage, and walking in someone else's shoes.

Another character that is connected to a flower is Mrs. Maudie because just like the Azaleas she keeps positiveness even though she's surrounded by negativity. The author quotes, “Always wanted a smaller house, Jem

Steinbeck introduces Elisa, the main character, as a masculine young woman with a “face lean and strong” (Steinbeck 209) and “her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume, a man’s black hat...clod-hopper shoes.” (Steinbeck 209) He lets the chrysanthemums symbolize Elisa’s true beauty. She feels that her husband does not see her as beautiful woman. All he can see is a house wife and a gardener. He shows little interest in the chrysanthemums. When Henry says, “You’ve got

She is used to living in a grimy house on an unsanitary property. Mayella selflessly operates at stage 6 when she grows the red geraniums on the Ewell property. Characters that behave at stage 6 operate with a sense of justice because they believe it’s the right thing to do, they may even break the law if they wholeheartedly believe it benefits everyone. In chapter 17, a character describes the Ewell property to be dirty and unsanitary but says, “against the fence, in a line, were six chipped-enamel slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums [...] people said the were Mayella Ewell’s (228). Mayella acts beyond her usual stinginess when doing this. She is trying to provide her and her six siblings with beauty so they can experience something out of the ordinary and lovely. Although the action of growing the geraniums isn’t breaking the law, it is going against the everyday filthy life the Ewells live. For once, Mayella isn’t thinking of herself, but of

These flowers serve as a constant reminder of this fertility-- not just to the reader, but also to the handmaids, whose main purpose is to reproduce. They are everywhere in the setting: a “watercolor picture of blue irises” (14) in Offred’s room; a “fanlight of colored glass: flowers red and blue” (15) at the end of the hallway just outside that room; the bathroom, “papered in small blue flowers, forget-me-nots, with curtains to match” (74); on the dining room table, “white cloth, silver, flowers” (78); the “magic flower,” the “withered daffodil” (115) Offred steals from Serena’s Parlor; the “starry canopy of silver flowers” (233) adorning the Commander’s bed. The flowers serve as hidden, almost subconscious reminders of the handmaids’ sole purpose of fertility; they are usually mentioned offhandedly, as miniscule, unimportant, yet ever-present details. However, they are sometimes more directly noted and compared to ideas of fertility, as in the case of Serena Joy’s

Mayella barely had anytime to herself since she was the parent of the house. The only thing Mayella took care of the most was her flowers. In the story that symbolized how even in the dirty place something beautiful can grow only in keep maintained and well treated. That foreshadows on how Mayella is mistreated and she doesn't grow from that because all her life she has heard lied and harassments. “He does tollable, ‘cept when--”(183).With her father coming home drunk she was faced with the beatings that from her father.

In the corner against the fence were "six chipped-enameled slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums, cared for as tenderly as is they belonged to Miss Maudie Atkinson, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premise" (170-171). It can be assumed that these flowers were Mayella's, as the other kids are too young and Bob Ewell perpetually too drunk, to take care of them so well. Mayella is fighting to be a better

Mayella is a lonely girl, she doesn’t go much outside and has no friends. But she tries to find happiness where there there in none. She has some red geraniums Mayella's pitiful attempts to beautify their trashy yard, as well as cover the odor with the scent of the geranium, indicate her search for some beauty in her ugly and lonely existence. However at the courthouse she lied in many ways, of course to protect herself but lying is a horrible thing. Because of her Tom Robinson was going to send his life in prison. I feel no pity for someone who would lie I such a way, that can ruin one’s life forever. Tom Robinson had a family, knowing that a father has gone to prison and wont be able to see his kids is dreadful. If I was in the shoes of Mayella

The red geraniums represented how Mayella wanted to keep clean and add a touch of beauty and feminism to her home. The Ewells were known to be dirty and thought of as “white trash,” so she wanted something for once to be nice about her home. In conclusion, Mayella is not powerful based on her class, because she is poor and does not have many luxuries that other

Whether it is in literature or even shown in pictures, people use things to represent something with a deeper meaning and that’s called symbolism. In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” by author Harper Lee, various different themes or symbols are active throughout the book either directly, or more often, obscurely being tied to the ultimate theme of the book, which is not being able to understand someone until you experience life from their point of view. The most apparent reoccurring theme though is equality because of the fact it’s symbolized through people, birds, and even inanimate objects that Scout and Jem encounter over the course of the book in the tree that turns out to play a bigger part of the story as the story progresses. Sometimes, these symbols are obvious to the reader and other times, they’re not, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not an infinite number of ways to analyze or interpret those same symbols and the meanings behind them. By doing this, the reader is able to get a better and deeper sense of what Lee was truly trying to say and their connections to the story and the way they help make the reader experience being physically at the time of the 1930’s. Equality was and still is a problem as reflected in the book, but it’s the way Lee brings those symbols to our attention that makes us realize how close to the exact same spot we were over 80 years ago that is able to make the reader that much more intrigued.

Steinbeck uses chrysanthemum’s to symbolize Elisa’s strength and power in order to show how societal standards cause women to miss out on opportunities and become frustrated with the confinement of their expression. “[Elisa] was cutting down the old year's chrysanthemum stalks with a pair of short and powerful scissors. She looked down toward the men by the tractor shed now and then. Her face was eager and mature and handsome; even her work with the scissors was over-eager, over-powerful.” Chrysanthemum stalks require a great deal of force to be cut down, which is highlighted through Elisa’s use of “powerful scissors.” Ordinarily, flowers are portrayed as beautiful and delicate; however, chrysanthemums are sturdy and tough. Steinbeck chose specifically to use chrysanthemums because they symbolize the strength Elisa has; she is confident, empowered, and masculine, but all of her strength is confined within the standards of society just as the chrysanthemums are confined within the walls of her garden. Elisa, as a woman, is unable to express herself as strong, masculine, and proud because that was not the standard that women were held to during that time; her expression is confined to her work in the garden with her chrysanthemums, and it is frustrating for her to miss out on the opportunities that would showcase her strength and let it be appreciated by her husband and the mender because of the standard of delicacy and beauty that women are held to.