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Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
To Kill a Mockingbird
As highlighted by the town museum and theatrical productions, the people of Monroeville, Alabama, take great pride in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird because it was written by town native Harper Lee. The novel tells the story of a white lawyer who puts himself in danger to courageously defend Tom Robinson, a Black man falsely accused of rape. Comparing the stories of Walter McMillian and Tom Robinson, Stevenson suggests that, like the novel itself, racial justice in Monroe County is fictional. In the book, Robinson goes to jail in spite of his innocence and he gets shot during an escape attempt. Without Stevenson’s involvement, McMillian’s story would more closely mirror Robinson’s, a miscarriage of justice followed by death. As suggested by Stevenson’s outrage at seeing a flyer for the latest To Kill a Mockingbird stage production, the people of Monroeville celebrate their connection to a book that symbolizes equal justice, but they do not practice a fair system of justice in their courtrooms.
The Electric Chair
In Just Mercy, the electric chair symbolizes the prisoners’ ever-present fear of being put to death. On death row, already the most restrictive level of the penal system, the prisoners live so close to the electric chair that they can smell the executions. They live in constant fear of their own impending executions, appeals and lawyers being their only possible escape. At Holman, the painted electric chair bears the name Yellow Mama, yet stands in stark opposition to the cheerfulness often associated with the color yellow or the nurturing nature of a mother. As an affidavit filed following the execution John Evans details, with an electrode that bursts from the strap, the smell of burning flesh, and greyish smoke, the electric chair stands for a particularly cruel and inhumane punishment. Horror stories like these allow corrupt officials in the justice system to use people’s fear of the electric chair to control them.
The Racist Guard
When Bryan Stevenson first visits client Avery Jenkins in prison, he encounters a pickup truck covered with Confederate flags and racist bumper stickers. As the guard who owns the truck greets Stevenson, he subjects the lawyer to an unusually invasive search and a sign-in process that leaves Stevenson feeling angry and powerless. During a post-trial visit, the guard displays a completely different attitude and even apologizes to Stevenson. After listening to details about Jenkins’s background in court, the guard realizes that both he and the inmate had traumatic childhoods in the foster care system. The guard was so strong in his racist beliefs that he had a Confederate flag tattoo on his arm. Still, the guard shows Stevenson a new respect on his second visit and finally gets Jenkins his much-requested chocolate milkshake, showing a true change of heart. By getting closer to Jenkins’s story, the guard gained a deeper understanding of prisoners. He symbolizes the potential for authentic change in the criminal justice system.
Stonecatcher
Based on a story in the Bible, a stonecatcher is a person who eases the suffering of the accused by showing them compassion or forgiveness. In Just Mercy, the term symbolizes those who others can lean on to share some of their pain. Following the hearing where he secures release for Joshua Carter and Robert Caston, an older, well-dressed Black woman at the courthouse tells Stevenson that her grandson was murdered fifteen years earlier, and a woman she didn’t know let her cry on her shoulder. Inspired by that example, she goes to the courthouse, making herself available to others who need someone to help ease their suffering. After hearing Stevenson at the trial, she tells him she knows he’s a stonecatcher too. As they sit together and lean on each other, they symbolize the network of people who work together to fix the problems of the justice system, catching the metaphorical stones tossed at their clients.
