Coming of Age Novels

This quote reveals Scout’s amazing understanding of life. She took a past learning experience and formed an incredible analogy comparing Boo and the mocking bird that her father earlier told her not to shoot. This analogy proves that Scout’s wisdom is well beyond her years.

people and see things from their point of view. Scout learns and understands this lesson firsthand

One experience that changed Scout was when Aunt Alexandra learns that Tom Robinson had died, but continues to entertain guests at her party. Atticus has just come home and breaks the news to Aunt Alexandra, who looks ready to burst into tears. But she swallows her tears, makes sure she doesn't look unhappy or teary-eyed, and goes back out to her guests. Scout sees all of this and realizes that being a

One of the first lessons Scout learns is to be tolerant of other people. Walter Cunningham is described as having “looked as if he had been raised on fish food… had no colour in his face… and fingered the straps

A childhood of a youngster begins with a seed their parent plants. With utmost care and love, the seed comes to bloom just as their little one would. They learn to stand on their own and grow as tall as they can. As time goes by, fruits begin to grow in the tree and experiences begin to fill the child’s life. They start with being sour, then sweet, lastly bitter. Similar to how the child would pave the way through their childhood into the dark realities of life. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, outlines how with age and experiences comes knowledge, the realization of life’s harsh realities, and the wisdom and understanding after trials. Scout Finch, the protagonist, experiences many of life’s ups and downs as well as

Through the eyes of an innocent child, the story of To Kill a Mockingbird introduces a world of corruption. In the disordered town of Maycomb, certain character traits are developed and displayed in a specific local family. The opposition against their beliefs brings daunting situations to their door. Yet, this one family perseveres through the continuous corruption of Maycomb. Therefore, this recurring motif of character development really plays into the characters and, consequently, the story. This evident pattern of courage composes the Finch family: Jem, Scout, and Atticus.

When children grow up, there are always people they need in there life to help them be mature. There is family members, friends, idols, and teachers. In to kill a Mockingbird, it shows racism, courage, family status. This novel is told by from a maturing girl’s perspective named scout. Her challenges of seeing racism and the side of depression in this world,which she experienced in a little town, Maycomb. There are many characters that help scout throughout her experience all of this and realizing things that go on in this world. Three main characters that help scout come of age are Atticus Finch, Jem, and friends around.

Older characters in movies are depicted as wise people who guide others along the correct paths. These adults play an important role by supporting the major characters so that they may continue after they make a mistake or stray from their goal. Elders are depicted as having great compassion and understanding or having more worldly knowledge than the other characters in the film. Though many older characters are commonly portrayed as understanding they do not always follow the archetype. Each race has their own type of elder that go about helping characters in different ways. Asian elders tend to be very strict when dealing with younger characters were as asian elders tend to be cryptic or non-exist as they want younger people to find their

Causing him to be a suspicious individual to the rest of the world. According to Scout, he’s a “...malevolent phantom” (Lee 10) Although Jem has never seen Boo in person. Scout states; “People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him.” People in Maycomb made up images and stories in their heads about him, making him up to be a monster. (Lee 10) Atticus explains to Scout and Jem that the reason why he lives like this is he has “had trouble with the law, and fell into the wrong crowd.” Which made him give off the wrong impression to most people (Lee 12 ). Throughout the whole story, he shows countless acts of courage and has a huge impact on Scout and Jem. Even though he couldn’t escape his house, he still had a big impact on Scout and Jem. Firstly, one of the many acts of courage he wanted to give gifts to the children by leaving them in the tree in which they climbed. Boo leaves Jem thinking that the reason why he’s doing all of this is simply because he is lonely and Scout heard Boo crying. Secondly since Scout and Jem are so special to him, he saved them from Bob Ewell. There were tons of rumours going around about Boo Radley, which isn’t a surprise considering the town is full of racists and all people do is gossip. Despite the fact that people see him as a monster, he looks past that and decides to act nothing but kind to them. Considering the fact that

Many of the Finch’s neighbors in Maycomb had stories, or more accurately, rumors, about Boo that characterized him as a rabid monster in human form. As the story progressed, these bits of information that Scout and Jem thought they understood about Boo became increasingly implausible. Jem’s first experience with this was when Boo had folded, sewn, and placed his pants on top of the fence in his backyard where they had been snagged a few days prior; Scout’s was when Boo stealthily placed a blanket on her cold shoulders the night when Mrs. Maudie's house burned down. The final revelation of his pure nature was when Scout, “...finally saw him” at the end of the novel and realized, “...he hadn’t done any of those things…he was real nice” (Lee chapter 31). Boo in fact, was as innocent as a

Mr. Tate and Atticus realize that Boo Radley saved Scout and Jem (Lee, 370). Everyone in Maycomb believes Boo Radley is a crazy person who stabbed his father, and went to prison for it. Scout learns first hand that Boo is not crazy or dangerous, only a man who prefers to be alone. When Scout and Jem go to church with Calpurnia, they observe that blacks are the same as whites (Lee, 158-167). Scout did not believe blacks where as terrible as the whites of Maycomb think they are. She picks up that whites wrongly judge people solely because of their skin tone. "'She's dead, son' said Atticus. 'She's not suffering any more. She was sick for a long time. Son didn't you know what her fits where?' Jem shook his head. 'Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict'"(Lee, 147). Scout believed Mrs. Dubose is a grumpy old lady who hates everyone. She feels a great deal of remorse when she finds out Mrs. Dubose is a recovering drug addict. Scout grasps the concept to not believe in rumors, because they paint the wrong image of people.

With time and experience, comes a new level of development and growth of a character. In the phenomenal book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee, readers get to see how character development is one of the most prominent details in the novel. Harper Lee’s illustration of maturation of Jem and Scout Finch is portrayed in a way that realistic issues are used, to display how a character can grow after witnessing, or even experiencing them. Development is shown through typical day-to-day issues, events that change the people and town of Maycomb and life lessons given by important figures from the novel.

He left them gifts in the hole of the tree and mended up Jem’s pants that were left under the fence. He wrapped Scout in a blanket when they were outside watching Miss Maudie’s house. Even though he could have been seen by the people that he has been avoiding for years. “Boo Radley. You were too busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (Lee 82). This is yet another example of why Boo is a kind genuine person, that nobody in Maycomb really will ever get to know, like the children did.

Written during America’s struggle for racial equality in the 1953s, Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” demonstrates many themes relevant to adolescents today, particularly that of growing up. During the three years covered by the novel, the characters in Maycomb are faced with many challenges, in particular, the characters of Jem and Scout. Once images of innocents at the start of the novel, but have gained a more complex understanding of the world by the end.

Many books and stories demonstrate the maturing of children by experiencing what life beyond childhood is and how that affects their relationships and behavior. The stories To Kill a Mockingbird and the Silver Star best show the effect of growing up through experiencing the realities of life. To Kill a Mockingbird shows the maturity of a young girl named Scout who lives during the Great Depression when her father takes the job of defending a black man. Even though The Silver Star does not take place during the depression it still shows the maturity of two girls (Liz and Bean) when they become involved in a major court case in their new, small town. A comparison of the two books shows how the ideas of children are affected by the people around