short pants, without shoes, and chained to a desk as young girls call out to him. These images suggest that he is a slave to his work--a slave who is also defending a descendent of slaves--and he is wasting his time preparing for the trial rather than enjoying life. Then, when the children visit Calpurnia's church, the minor confrontation with Lula represents the quiet resistance to whites which is never publicly shown by the black community. The way Lula seems seven feet high, with her "left elbow in the curve of her hip, pointing at us with upturned palm," personifies and symbolizes an attitude of shock, confusion and disgust that is usually reserved for casual talk at home, and not in public. Between the political cartoon and Lula, the symbolism points out trouble in Maycomb county: trouble flowing out of the hearts, minds, homes and churches and into the courtroom where a man's life lays at the feet of a long-standing, multi-generational conflict between white and black in the South.

There are also hopeful symbols, such as the song that Zeebo guides the congregation through during singing time. The song references a "sweet forever" beyond a "shining river" (121). The sweet forever symbolizes heaven and the shining river is the pathway to it. In Christianity, water can also represent Christ who offers living water (spiritual strength). Then, Scout even says that the cemetery next to the church is happy, as follows:

"A few graves in the cemetery were marked with crumbling tombstones; newer ones were outlined with brightly colored glass and broken Coca-Cola bottles. Lightning rods guarding some graves denoted dead who rested uneasily; stumps of burned-out candles stood at the heads of infant graves. It was a happy cemetery" (118).

It is ironic that with the images in the above passage symbolizing death, poverty, and unrest that Scout would say it was a happy cemetery. On the other hand, there's so much going on in chapter 12 that one could pick out three corresponding images and apply their symbolism to the ongoing conflict of prejudice, discrimination and racism found throughout Maycomb county. However, the political cartoon and the church scene have the most images from which to draw many symbols for analytical conclusions.

SYMBOLS

CHAPTER 23. The jury serves as an most important symbol in the chapter. The jury is the voice of the community, the judges of innocence and guilt; but it also serves as a symbol of corruption, racism, and segregation.

CHAPTER 24. Sin is a symbol used to show both the positive and negative nature of the missionary circle. The women meet under the guise of helping the African Mruna tribe who live in "sin and squalor." But the women get sidetracked when they criticize the Negroes in Maycomb and those who defend them (Atticus).

CHAPTER 25.  Animals, in this case the roly-poly and the songbird, serve as symbols of innocence in the chapter. Jem tells Scout not to squash the roly-poly (a pill bug) because it is weak and harmless. B. B. Underwood's editorial compares Tom Robinson's death to the "senseless slaughter of songbirds."

CHAPTER 26. The Radley oak tree reappears in this chapter. Though Nathan Radley had told Jem that the tree was diseased and needed to be cemented, the tree continues to grow, "swelling" the cement around it. The tree symbolizes Boo, whose family has tried to change and restrain him, but inside the house, Boo continues to live and grow older, much like the tree. Boo will later show that these restrictions cannot completely restrain his movements.