role of a chifforobe in to kill a mockingbird

The Role of a Chifforobe Tamra Wilson’s purpose in writing, “The Chifforobe: An overlooked ingredient in Southern writing” was to explain the complex symbolism a piece of furniture could have in typical Southern literature. There is a multitude of reasons why Harper Lee included a chifforobe in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. The first, would be the chifforobe’s “tendency to symbolize a cling to the past and resisting change”. Harper Lee’s story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930’s, where racism towards the blacks had been occurring for centuries. Many Southerners at this time in Maycomb had been resisting a change to racial equality and were not planning on starting that change anytime soon. Chifforobes are two-sided,” not quite a closet, not quite a chest of drawers”, just like the two-sided battle for racial justice. There are cabinets in chifforobes where people scavenge for their clothing garments. This is similar to the Ewell’s scavenging for food, money, and clothes on their property. A chifforobe is also home to private undergarments, representing Tom Robinson’s secret assistance to Mayella and her private desire for intimacy with Tom. “Having a chifforobe and its contents in public view is to air one’s laundry”, the Ewell’s have been are their figurative and literal “ dirty laundry” on the front of their property, which bares broken tree limbs, scattered repairware, and other random objects. Pride is often represented by chifforobes. The broken chifforobe in the story represents the loss of whatever pride Bob Ewell had, gone at the end of the trial. Chifforobes can also represent strict social values, like the ones in Maycomb where there can be no relationship between the black and white communities in a positive manner. Hidden family secrets, like Bob Ewell’s abuse of Mayella, can be symbolized by a chifforobe’s ability to hide garments in its drawers. The last symbolism of a chifforobe in “To Kill a Mockingbird” is how it can represent missing