4。2   Historical Background of Two Authors 10

Conclusion 12

Acknowledgements 13

References 14

1 Introduction

1。1 An Introduction to Authors and Works

Harper Lee is the pen name of Nelle Harper Lee, and she is a famous American novelist who is widely known for her book published in 1960—To Kill a Mockingbird。 This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961。 Though she only published this single book during her lifetime, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to literature in 2007。

Lee's lawyer Tonja Carter re-examined Lee's safe-deposit box in 2014 and found the manuscript for Go Set a Watchman。 The book was published in 2015 which included versions of many of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird (Dunphy, 2004)。From+优`尔^文W网wWw.YouErw.com 加QQ75201^8766

To kill a mocking bird, in a tone of a little girl, tells the story occurred between black and white in an American southern town in 1960s, and uses this main line to show all aspects of southern society to readers。 (Lee, 1998)

Another famous book with bird imageries is The Hunger Games written by Suzanne Collins。 Suzanne Collins is an American television writer and novelist。 She is widely known for her writing: The Hunger Games。 Also, she has another bestselling book called Underland Chronicles Series including Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret and Gregor and the Code of Claw。论文网

    The Hunger Games is a series of three adventure novels。 Each book in the trilogy are titled The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mocking jay。 The background of The Hunger Games is set in Panem, a country consisting of a wealthy Capitol and 12 districts with poverty。 Every year, children from each district will be selected to participate in a compulsory death match called hunger game, and this game will be broadcast live to show people how these children kill each other。 (Collins, 2014)

1。2 Literature Review

Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird describes a story happened in a small town in Southern America in 1960s。 In this novel, mockingbird is used to express the message of conflict between black and white at that time。 Mockingbirds are a group of New World passerine birds from the Mimidae family。 They are best known for the habit of some species mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and birds, often loudly and in rapid succession。 This is a presentation of this kind of bird from Natural Science。 The reason that authors gave this bird symbolic meanings is related to its natural habitat。 It is a kind of harmless bird in nature, so they are used to represent innocent people。

"In the novel, Harper Lee with Mockingbird symbolized goodness and innocence。" (Cao, 2015, p: 241) Cao’s document analyzed the symbolic meaning of mockingbird in conjunction with the historical background of this novel。 The rights of blacks in southern states were still not guaranteed at that time。The black still belonged to the underclass and not being respected。 That is the reason why Robinson was wronged to death in this novel。 Cao focused on the interpretation of symbolic meanings of mockingbird from the perspective of background。 

The Hunger Games is another novel involved bird imageries written by Suzanne Collins。 In this book, mocking jay is used to represent poor districts’ revolt against the Capitol。 Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy dreams the same dream, representing a childhood that is threatened, lost, and unheard。 (Tan, 2013, P: 55) When Katniss were chosen to an oblation in the Hunger Games, she was driven by her desire of surviving, however, when the cost of her survival is other children’s life, she hesitated。 (Tan, 2013) Children all lost their voice and became helpless and be the sacrifice of domination, so when Katniss stood out to declare a war to this unfair society, she became a "girl standing on the fire," (Collins, 2014, P: 177) which called for attention of adult’s world。 The change of bird imagery is consistent with the whole fight process of heroine, from voice being deprived to finally shouted out, this imagery became the most distinctive symbol of the struggle against the upper class。文献综述