Mockingbird Motif

In the beginning of the school year, the word motif was a bit difficult to me. Then i read To Kill a Mockingbird, and it came clear to me what motif meant. I finally realized tha motif is basically a theme but in symbolic form.

There are plenty of mockingbird motifs in this novel. The one that i thought was the most importnat would have to be racism. This adds many symbolic forms to other themes. For example, when Tom is tried for raping Mayella, Atticus, as the defnedr of Tom, clearly shows that it was impossible. Tom's left hand was destroyed by a cotton gin and therefore could have done nothing of the sort. Tom's disability shows he is a mockingbird which is another major theme in the story.