The role of Antithesis in the novel “To kill a Mocking Bird”

The role of Antithesis in the novel “To kill a Mocking Bird”
The text under study is an extract from the novel “To kill a mocking bird” by the American authoress ['ɔːθ(ə)res] Harper Lee. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of those books that almost everyone reads at some point in their lives. Whether you've been forced to read it at school, or you've had a look because everyone's been urging you to, most people have their own personal experience of reading Mockingbird. The masterpiece exposes not only deep social message but also ills of the society, as the writer in various ways reveals the eternal and global problems such as the problem of good and evil, the problem of racism (black or white), the problem of morality and judging system. The idea of Social Inequality is centered around the whole excerpt.
The events of the novel are perceived through the eyes of the first person narrator (I punched Jem; I shut my eyes; I saw Atticus pushing papers from the table into his briefcase) from the “Scout’s” point of view which produces a peculiar effect because Scout observes the events from her childhood, as she understood them at the time, rather than imposing an adult commentary. This makes the narrative perspective naïve: often we get descriptions of events just as she experiences them, without commentary on what they mean. The tone of the text is rather elevated and tense which is due to the choice of lexis (we had never seen him sweat, jury seemed to be attentive, we exchanged horrified glances).The extract combines narration with description and elements of dialog and monolog (the usage of rhetorical questions and aposiopesis, the repetition of such phrases as black or white, all men are created equal helps to create emotional atmosphere and to emphasize and to keep in mind the importance of these phrases). The whole text contains the abundance of thematic judicial terms and clichés such as: the jury, corroborative/medical evidence, on trial of life, with the court`s permission, guilty, the testimony, cross examinations, victim, offense, the defendant etc.
The symbols which are used in the text are worthy of notice. The title “To Kill a Mockingbird” has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries a great deal of symbolic weight in the book. In this story of innocents destroyed by evil, the “mockingbird” comes to represent the idea of innocence. To kill a mockingbird means to destroy innocence. Tom Robinson serves as a perfect example of this symbol. The sentence “this case is as simple as black and white” strikes the reader with its symbolic features. The usage of such stylistic devises as simile “case as simple as black and white” based on the antithesis “black and white” reflects the problem of racism and at the same time the problem of morality and immorality / (good or evil). On the one hand Mayella Ewell is rather speaking name due to the fact that surname Ewell is consonants with the word evil: they are homophones. The connection of two pairs of antithesis – innocence- evil and Tom Robinson- Mayella Ewell brings to light the problem of morality. On the other hand from the very beginning of childhood we got used to understand that dark and black is something evil and white is good and always wins the everlasting battle. If we consider this fact, the reader can arrive at the idea that black people are evil and white are good. From the text this opinion is brightly expressed by the jury. “He walked slowly up and down in front of the jury, and the jury seemed to be attentive. I guess it was because Atticus wasn`t a thunderer.” All these stylistic devices such as the antithesis up and down, the assonance of the sounds: a/o/i/, rhythm /was because/ and the anadiplosis (the jury) reveal the indirect meaning. The usage of the constriction “seemed to (be attentive)” signifies that the juries have already made their final decision about this case and no one even Atticus- the fighter for the truth can change the course of events. They are truly believe that “a lie as black as Tom Robinson`s skin”. “A jury never looks at a defendant it has convicted and when this jury came in, not one of them looked at Tom Robinson. The foreman handed a piece of paper to Mr. Tate who handed it to the clerk who handed it to the judge..”. These sentences are the key words of the whole extract because through the text everything becomes obvious ordinary workers without special legal education are part of the jury and they judge people following their prejudice, ridiculous believes that Negroes are always evil, without understanding the full complication of the case and leaving guilty Mayella Ewell unpunished. At the end of my analysis I’d like to add that author’s main goal is to get response in readers` hearts and to deliver the most important massage that men are created equal no matter who you are: black or white.