A picture of nut grass
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Miss Maudie's Nut Grass
As the town has a lot of rumors and things as racism, Miss Maudie focuses on what she believes is true. Miss Maudie despises the nut grass as it represents the white trash of Maycomb County. An example of what she does to the nut grass, “If she found a blade of nut grass in her yard it was like the Second Battle of the Marne: she swooped down upon it with a tin tub and subjected it to blasts from beneath with a poisonous substance she said was so powerful it’d kill us all if we didn’t stand out of the way” (42). The nut grass in her garden symbolizes the rumors that goes around in Maycomb which is easy to spread as well. For an example, The nut grass also symbolizes her hatred of racism and how she does not want the racism to spread. |
A picture of a Mockingbird
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The Mockingbird
The mockingbird is a bird that sings and only brings joy. The mockingbird symbolizes peace and innocence. They do not harm anyone or anything. For example Miss Maudie says this to Scout, "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." (119 Lee) They just sing and make the world better for everyone. In the book, the mockingbird might be Tom Robinson because he is a man who only likes to help and plus he goes to church. Mockingbirds are always happy and try to make people happy when they harm outside. In the book it Considered a sin if you kill a Mockingbird because they are innocent birds. Also mockingbird just mine their own business and not others. |
A picture of Mad Dog from the film
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Mad Dog
Mad dog is a dog infected with a disease which is most likely rabies. Mad dog seems to be representative of another disease, racism. When Mad Dog ran by the neighborhood all the people it passed by hid behind closed doors. In the book, when the doors are closed that is representative of illness, the people are hiding their racism, their illness. Atticus, who was revealed to be one of the best shots in Maycomb county shoots the dog, killing it. When Atticus kills mad dog that could represent Atticus making an attempt to destroy racism to keep the town from getting infected. Heck Tate, Miss Maudie, Atticus with Scout and Jem were the only ones able to to step outside to stop Mad Dog. Mad Dog is a comparison to their society being mad, with unfair trials, racism, and many other unfair laws, Mad Dog represents almost all of that. That is what Mad Dog symbolizes. |
Miss Maudie's garden from the film
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Miss Maudie’s Garden
Miss Maudie has a large garden, she loves every plant even the weeds. The only plant Miss Maudie despises is the nut grass. Miss Maudie mainly grows azaleas, most likely for their beauty and hard-work. Miss Maudie once told a story to Scout, that one night some “foot-washing Baptists" said that her and her garden will burn in Hell. It seems like Miss Maudie’s garden is representative of the town. The flowers in Miss Maudie’s garden represents white people, the weeds represent African American people, whom Miss Maudie loves both and allows to live in her garden while the nut grass represents people like the Ewells and other racist people. One day Scout was awoken to Atticus waking her up and telling her that Miss Maudie’s garden was on fire. The garden being on fire could represent how when Tom Robinson died, for a few days his story was in newspapers and was detrimental. That is what Miss Maudie's garden represents. |
A photo of a red geranium
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Red Geranium
The Red Germanium, the flower that Mayella was planting in her front yard stands for love and dead. For example Mayella was in love with Tom Robinson who was black and back then it was wrong to date or kiss a black men. Mayella accused Tom of raping her even thought Mayella wanted to kiss tom but tom Insisted. Mayella accused Tom of raping her because she had feeling for Tom but Tom didn't feel the same way about her and that made Mayella mad. Also it meant that Mayella had Tom Robinson's life in her hand. It says how Mayella's red geraniums were tenderly cared for as if they were cared for by Miss Maudie. It states in the book, "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 Aticus, had Miss Maudie deigned to permit a geranium on her premises. People said they were Mayella Ewell's."(288) Those are the red geraniums. |