Archetypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Literary criticism is an informed, written analysis and evaluation of a work of literature that is based on a literary theory. A literary theory is a means to understand the various ways people read and connect with texts that usually leads to a new perspective. In To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM) by Harper Lee uses a literary theory known as archetypal criticism. This criticism shows how recurring characters, symbols, and themes help develop a story. The author’s use of loss of innocence, weather as a symbol for change, and the hero archetype are seen throughout the novel. In the story, Lee features the theme of loss of innocence and the characters who experience it. The character of Scout loses her innocence when she heard her teacher say “it’s …show more content…
The first time weather is used as a symbol for change is the snow in Maycomb and how “for reasons unfathomable to the most experienced prophets in Maycomb County, autumn turned to winter that year. We had two weeks of the coldest weather since 1885, Atticus said” (Lee 85). As indicated by the reactions of the townspeople, snow was a rare occurrence in Maycomb. By having the snow cover the town, the author indicates that a change will come that impacts all of Maycomb. The quality of snow being white - a color that represents purity and a blank slate - also reinforces its symbolic nature. Consequently, Miss Maudie’s house fire that reached “...well into the second floor and had eaten its way to the roof” (Lee 93) symbolized the transition to violent change in Maycomb. Shortly after the unusual snow and cold weather hit the town, a fire broke out in Miss Maudie’s home. The sudden fire represented the abrupt change from peaceful to violent opposition towards Atticus after the Tom Robinson trial. Lee’s use of fire also established that throughput the story extremely or unusually warm weather symbolizes negativity and violence. Finally, the weather before the pageant became symbolic of what was foreshadowed when Atticus said, “He's had his fling with about everybody now, so he ought to be satisfied. He’ll settle down when the weather changes” (Lee 335). The weather on the night of the pageant was …show more content…
Characters such as Scout, Jem, and Boo Radley experience a loss of innocence brought on by the injustice in Maycomb that affects each of them differently. The novel is also impacted differently by the use of various types of weather as symbols for change. Finally, the hero archetype exhibited by many characters in the story is also a significant aspect of the novel. Through the use of archetypal criticism in To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader is able to understand the novel better. The archetypes featured by the author help the reader to understand the social structure that is so fundamental in Maycomb, as well as how the novel compares to other works that feature similar archetypes that the reader may already have a deeper understanding
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