Various Literary Elements in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Various Literary Elements in "To Kill a Mockingbird"

To Kill a Mockingbird Literary Elements Log
Foreshadowing:   To hint or at suggest what lies ahead in the story.
1.   “It was Miss Stephanie’s pleasure to tell us:   this morning Bob Ewell stopped Atticus on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (217).
This moment in the book foreshadows the impending attack on the children by Bob Ewell, which he is hinting at by saying that he would get back at Atticus Finch.
2.   “Thus began our longest journey together” (254).
This quote foreshadows the fact that something is going to happen that will make their walk to and back from the school a very long one; the attack by Bob Ewell.
3.   “This was the stillness before a thunderstorm” (260).
This example of foreshadowing tells that something is about to happen, although it is very calm at the moment.   In this case the thunderstorm is Bob Ewell.
4.   Another example of foreshadowing in the novel is on page 72 when an unseen Boo Radley wraps a blanket around an unknowing Scout to keep her warm.   It shows that the man may not be as dangerous as he may seem in the stories and rumors told about him, which is proven true when he saves the kids later in the story.

Metaphor:   A word or expression that represents another similar topic.
1.   One metaphor in To Kill a Mockingbird is the titular bird, the mockingbird.   On page 90, Atticus tells Jem that he can shoot all the bluejays he wants, but not the mockingbirds, for it would be a sin to kill a mockingbird.   Miss Maudie clarifies this by saying that mockingbirds are innocent; they do not do anything that would seem wrong or bothersome to us.   This is a metaphor for the people like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, who had not done anything wrong but are still, in a way, shot at and hunted by the people in the town.   Atticus is trying to tell his children not to
2.   “High above us in the solitary darkness a solitary mocker poured out its repertoire in blissful...