What symbolism is used throughout the language in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee?

In terms of the language used in Harper Lee's To
Kill a Mockingbird, we hear the "voice" of a young Scout narrating the story
as an adult. We are, however, able (through Harper Lee's gift of writing) to hear the
child Scout was, come through in the pages of the story, capturing the innocence,
concerns, joys and fears of a young girl.

Another aspect of
the language, perhaps more importantly, is the dialect used. The story takes place in
Alabama, in the imaginary town of Maycomb. The town is in the middle of the Great
Depression, and the end of the Civil War is not so long ago that people have forgotten
how the South suffered; many of the townspeople feel a strong resentment for the
non-slave black community which still suffers deeply from prejudice at the hands of
these whites. Many of the members of this small-town white community still speak the
language of the Old South—where education and cultural growth have not arrived with
enough force to change their language—so different from the language of the
North.

Additionally, among the whites there are
delineations. There is language of people like Atticus and Miss Maudie, and then the
language of the Ewells. Importantly, there is also the language
Calpurnia uses with the Finches, and the language she reverts to when among her own
people.

If the language can have any symbolism, I would
expect that it shows clearly the divide between the educated community and the
uneducated community. Most of the time, people like Atticus, Miss Maudie, Aunt
Alexandra, Judge Taylor, Uncle Jack, etc., show their standing in the community by the
way they speak: they are more sophisticated which would symbolize their intellect,
education, and their ability to rise above the circumstances that keep the rest of this
this town from moving forward more quickly into the newly- arrived twentieth century.
This learning is seen in Calpurnia's speech and ability to read and write.
She is a character that walks between the two
worlds.

On the other hand, people like Bob Ewell are a
clear example of this part of the country and its inability to move beyond its past and
its sense of being persecuted and treated unfairly in the war between the North and
South. Ewell, his son Burris, and daughter Mayella show through their speech how
uneducated—and hateful and suspicious—they are, still mired down by the sensibilities
and prejudices of the Old South.

For example, when Mayella
takes the stand in court, she becomes extremely argumentative because she thinks that
Atticus is making fun of her. It is only when judge Taylor assures her that Atticus is
being polite that she will answer his questions.

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She was looking at [Atticus]
furiously.

"Won't answer a word you say long as you keep on
mockin' me…

And to Judge
Taylor she declares:

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Long's he keeps on callin' me ma'am an sayin'
Miss Mayella. I don't have to take his
sass…"

Even Bob Ewell's
language shows his sense of the "good old boys" of the South when he acts without
respect toward the court and its representatives. When asked if Mayella is his daughter,
his response is:

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Well if I ain't I can't do nothing about it now,
her ma's
dead...

And...

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Just before sundown. Well, I was sayin' Mayella
was screamin' fit to beat
Jesus—

I believe that the
different types of language used in the novel symbolize the educated from the
uneducated, the forward-thinking from those locked in the South's
past.