Abstract

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee, a well-known modernist writer from the southern America. This paper first introduces the background information of the writer and the story, then makes an analysis of the symbols the author uses regarding the novel's title, settings and characters, and finally explores the roles of symbolism in the presentation of the plot and the theme of the story. The conclusion reached is that the major problems in the modern society, particularly in America, are successfully disclosed through Lee's employment of symbols in this novel.

Key words: symbols, To Kill a Mockingbird, plot, theme

摘 要

《杀死一只知更鸟》是美国著名南方作家哈伯•李的一部现代小说。本文从简要介绍该小说及其作家入手，进一步分析了作品中有关书名、场景和人物的象征及其对于展现小说情节和主题的作用，从而得出结论：哈伯•李凭借象征手法成功地揭示了现代社会，尤其是美国，所存在的主要问题。

关键词： 象征；《杀死一只知更鸟》；情节；主题

1. Introduction
     “To Kill a Mockingbird has influenced the character of our country for the better. It’s been a gift to the entire world. As a model of good writing and humane sensibility, this book will be read and studied forever” (http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/To_kill_a_mockingbird), reads the statement of President George W. Bush when awarding Harper Lee the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 5, 2007. Harper Lee’s only novel To Kill a Mockingbird was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. Many US high schools use this novel as teaching material, educating students to promote moral values.
     Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Alabama, America. Her father was both an editor in a news agency and a lawyer. Harper was a clever and outgoing tomboy with talents in reading. Truman Capote was her childhood playmate, who once lived in his relative’s house, next to Lee’s. After she grew up, Harper studied law in the University of Alabama. At the age of 30, she began to write this novel. Having won several prizes for her novel, Harper Lee still lives a simple and peaceful life.