Coming of Age in to Kill a Mockingbird

Since the first spark of human life, coming-of-age has even occurred at the time of Adam and Eve. Many people think that the only part of maturing is puberty. However, one of the greatest parts of growing up is not, surprisingly, going through puberty. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives.

Boo is a very important character in the book, in fact, the novel opens with Scout and her interactions with Boo and is closed by it too. Scout learns about Boo though the gossip passed on through neighbors in the community. The stories are scary and many out of context, however, Scout doesn’t seem to notice this till after the trial. At the beginning of the book she plays a game that involves Boo, and she tries to torment him into coming out. When Scout describes Boo Radley she says, "People said 'Boo' Radley went out at night and peeped in people’s windows. That he breathed on flowers and they froze instantly. They said he committed little crimes in the night but not one ever saw him." This shows that Scout sees Boo as an object of fascination instead of a human being. She does not acknowledge that he has emotions or feelings, she just views him as a monster who does horrible things to people. Furthermore, we can learn that Boo is not a very loved or respected figure in the community due to his strange way of living. As the trial takes place Scout matures and her level of complex thinking increases, but it is not until October 24th that we see how her perception of Boo changes since in the trial she saw how badly they treated Tom Robinson and she directly connected it to Boo “I hugged him and said, “Yes, sir. Mr. Tate was right, it’d be sort of

There is a time in everyone’s life when they reach a certain age where they go through a period where they come of age. To come of age means that a person reaches an age when they discover something they didn’t know before and they learn it when they come across something significant. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, author Harper Lee uses the theme of coming of age with her character Jem Finch. Throughout his coming of age experience Jem encounters the tree, the gun, and the camellias which teach him some important lessons that he will benefit from in the future.

Scout stands up for Walter Cunningham and says "That Walter's as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes because he has to stay out and help his daddy. Nothing's wrong with him."(p304). Scout realizes that Walter Cunningham is not the way he is by choice but because his life holds him back by seeing what it would be like to be him. When Scout goes on the Radley's porch and thinks about how things would look like through Boo's eyes she realizes "Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley's porch was enough"(p.374). When Scout was younger she believed that Boo was this monster because of all the rumors that were spread about him but in reality Boo is this kind man who is kind to Jem and Scout. After realizing this Scout now sees hat Atticus was right and that she she shouldn't judge someone just by things she hears and people might do what they do for a

Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.

From this, one can see that Scout is still in a juvenile state of mind. Furthermore, one can see how the beliefs of the townspeople have been transferred to Scout, who had taken them as they are considered the social norm. She unknowingly accepts their racism when she thinks of Dolphus Raymond as a “sinful man” because he associates himself with black people and “…had mixed children and didn’t care who knowed it.” (201) She does not understand why he freely displays his transgression to the town when it is acknowledged as a wrong thing to do in Maycomb. However, Scout slowly starts to develop her own sense of right and wrong and create her own judgments of others. Boo was once the monster of her childhood, but after witnessing his cordial and courageous actions, she realizes that “he hadn’t done any of those things…he was real nice.” (281) In the end, Scout matures and sheds her childhood nickname to become the young lady called “Jean Louise” by family and friends. (211, 224, 229) This change in Scout is a result of her loss of innocence and is a focal point in the novel to give a thought-provoking perspective on the events of the book.

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee includes many coming of age moments. For example, I chose the part where Scout walks Boo home. Scout is the narrator of the book and Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley accompanies her in this scene. This is a coming of age example because near the end, Scout talks about how she felt she’d already learned what she needed to be an adult. Today I’ll be talking about literary elements in this passage.

In the novel written by Harper Lee titled To Kill a Mockingbird, it is a story that revolves around two children named Jem and Scout and their experiences in a prejudiced town as they grow up and mature into young adults. They learn lessons regarding what the real world has to offer during a time of segregation. As they discover new ideas, they also manage to learn more about themselves. Lee utilizes imagery, direct characterization, and dialogue to express the recurring theme of coming of age, also known as Bildungsroman.

Harper Lee, in the realistic-fiction novel To Kill A Mockingbird, uses a variety of literary elements to aid in the overall development of the theme. All of the characters are going through some sort of coming of age experience or enhancing someone else's experience as well as their lives all the while being greatly impacted by the racial discrimination and injustices that occurred all around them. An event in the novel that expresses this is the court case of Tom Robinson, or more specifically, Atticus’s, Tom Robinson’s attorney, closing argument. During this Tom Robinson is wrongly accused of raping a white girl in their town of Maycomb, and Atticus decides to defend him as his attorney despite the town's clear racial biases and preconceived stereotypes on people of color; this greatly impacts Atticus’s daughter, Scout. To show this Harper Lee uses setting, plot and conflict to enhance the development of the novel and put forth the theme. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses these literary elements, plot, conflict and setting to develop the idea that the presence of racial inequality leading to the undermining of justice impacts the coming of age for Scout on a variety of levels.

The book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee is about Scout Finch and her older brother Jem living in Maycomb, Alabama during the great depression. Scout and Jem spend a lot of their time watching over Boo Radley's house with Dill, their friend. Scout and Jem's Dad, Atticus, agrees to help a black man, Tom Robinson, by being his attorney where Tom is accused of Rape. The theme, Do not judge a person before actually getting to know them, is show in many different ways.

Scout, Jem, and Dill work many summers to try to get Boo to come out of the Radley house for the first time in many years. Jem had been told many things about Boo in his short years in Maycomb, and he tells his sister Scout about the ‘monster’, saying, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (chap. 1). Jem’s ideas about Boo are very biased toward rumors that can be heard around Maycomb. This shows how Maycomb’s people often judge before they know, seeing as no one has seen Boo Radley in over twenty years and people are prejudiced to believing the unknown is always bad. Prejudice and rumors can often not be trusted and Boo Radley is no exception. After Miss Maudie’s house catches fire and half the town rushes outside to watch it burn, Atticus tells Scout, “someday you should thank him for covering you up” then Scout asks, “Thank Who?” And gets a response from Atticus, “Boo Radley. You were too busy looking at the fire, you didn’t even notice when he put the blanket around you” (chap. 8). Boo Radley is not really a bad person, he

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a first person narrative describing the life of Jem and Scout, a brother and sister who are the main protagonists of the novel. Jem and Scout grow up in a town where they are constantly surrounded by racial inequality, social unrest and prejudice. Jem Finch is considered a normal young boy growing up in the small Alabama town of Maycomb. Like his friends Jem likes to likes take part in activities that are perceived to be masculine in nature such as sports. Yet the way he is raised is very different than his friends and his upbringing is considered to be against the cultural norm of the time. Harper Lee creates the character of Jem to show the reader

Literary elements take up substantial fragments in stories today. In the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, there is a young boy named Jem Finch and throughout the story, you start to realise that he’s growing up, not physically, but mentally, we call that ‘the coming of age’. Jem’s coming of age experience is developed at Mrs.Dubose’s (a bad tempered old lady) house through conflict, irony, and symbol.

Have you ever wondered what makes someone grow up? It seems to be the little things in life that really make children ponder about life’s choices. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout has many moments that help the young child realize the answers to life’s questions and what she is expected to become as she grows older. Harper Lee’s many literary devices used throughout the novel help build up to moments of coming of age for young Scout. From pages thirty to thirty-two, Scout learns a lot of new lessons that help her on her way to growing up. When reprimanded by her teacher, Miss Caroline, she chooses to take her anger out on what she thought was the source, Walter Cunningham. This innocent boy is the son of a father that hardly provides

Every child comes of age by recognizing reality and the ways of the world, and as this happens they begin to forget the silly games and make believe that once entertained them. In Harper Lee’s book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Jem and Scout are the kids of Maycomb defence attorney, Atticus Finch. He raises his children to respect and love everyone. Atticus has always been the children’s main influence, however as they start school they begin to have more experiences outside of the home and their family life. The main thing introduced to Jem is racism. Especially after their father takes on a case of a black man, Tom Robinson. Jem starts out as an immature little boy, however he comes of age due to several instances such as, helping the Cunningham boy, being punished by Mrs. Dubose, helping his best friend Dill, and defending his sister in a scary event.