To Kill a Mockingbird: Analysis of symbolism. To Kill a Mockingbird is not just a simple story of growing up. This book contains metaphors and symbolism that greatly increase its literary value. Mockingbird The most important symbol in this story is probably the mockingbird. The theme of the mockingbird is shown in the title and throughout the rest of the book. After Scout and Jem received air rifles for Christmas, their father Atticus said to …showed first 75 words of 1162 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1162 total…kill my Snow-on-the-Mountain, did you? ...the top's growing back out. Next time you'll know how to do it right, won't you? You'll pull it up by the roots, won't you?" This shows that in order to fight injustice we have to tackle the root of the problem, which was the attitudes planted in the minds of people for many generations. Pulling roots is far harder than cutting tops, which symbolizes the difficulty of destroying prejudice.