Symbolism in To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is a striking portrait of Southern tradition and human dignity, a novel whose themes and lessons transcend time and place. The book is narrated by a young girl named Scout who matures over the course of the story from an innocent child to a morally aware young adult. The novel's cover shows a tree with a knot containing a pocket watch and a ball of yarn, accompanied by the silhouette of a thrush soaring above the trees across a twilight sky. The portrait on the cover is an emblem indicating the nature of Scout's maturation and the underlying themes presented by Harper Lee. The themes expressed by Lee, ethically rich and deeply human, embody the traditional mentality of the South. The story begins during the summer in Maycomb County, Alabama, in a world of children. Scout is a girl of about ten and her older brother Jem is about thirteen. Their summer days consist of playing pretend, fantasy games from dawn to dusk with their friend Dill, from Montgomery, Alabama. In the world of children, the twilight sky represents the rising sun, the dawn of a new day, and the start of a day full of children's games and activities. The world of the child that exists during the day is a world that flourishes with innocence and simplicity. However, the day is the only time the child's world exists, because when the sun sets, curfew brings Scout, Jem, and Dill home for the evening. When the daylight fades and the moon begins to rise, the games subside and the imaginary, fictional world ceases to exist until the next morning. The twilight sky portrayed on the cover represents a rising sun and, therefore, the child's insignificant world. The tree with knots that houses the pocket watch and the ball of yarn depicted on the cover are another symbol of the child's world. The tree is located on the edge of the Radley property and the pocket watch and ball of yarn inside it were placed there by Boo Radley. Boo is an instrumental character in the child's pretend world because of the great ambiguity and elusiveness he represents. Neither Scout, nor Jem, nor Dill have ever seen Boo Radley; all they know about him are the stories they've heard from Miss Stephanie Crawford, their neighbor and potentially reliable source.