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Analysis Of Harper Lee 's ' Kill A Mockingbird '

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Throughout human history, the transformation from naïve children to mature adults has been of profound importance. The various customs to prove maturation in different cultures shows the widespread significance of this transition. Within literature, the variety of passages to maturation spanning from peaceful and blissful to depressing and unbearable activities exhibits the embodiment of this tedious process. Bildungsromans embody all of these different paths from the common starting point of birth. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one such Bildungsroman about a girl’s maturation contrasted with the children around her. Through the utilization of different economic and familial backgrounds during the Great Depression allows Lee to…show more content…
The word carnal is typically not in the vocabulary of the average eight year old; however, the emphasis that Atticus puts on reading accompanied by the legal jargon exchanged in normal conversation in their household has built Scout’s vocabulary into one that is beyond her years. The definition Atticus provides additionally understates the violence of the situation and its implications for the woman. This understatement protects Scout from understanding the full atrocity that his client allegedly committed. The implications this has for the childhoods of Jem and Scout are paramount. Instances such as these with the definition of rape lead to a vague enlightenment for both Jem and Scout, who consequentially have a limited knowledge of many topics, and a specialized knowledge on few. Additionally, the financial situation of the Finch family leads to Jem and Scout being able to pay for more luxuries in an era where few could afford such items, which Atticus describes as poor, but not as poor as the Cunninghams. When Jem had “money [that] was burning up his pockets,” and he goes to “buy a miniature steam engine for himself and a twirling baton for [Scout],” he displays an ability to spend money that most other people in the era would never be able to spend on such luxuries. This reveals the
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