Everyone goes through a gradual change from youth to adult hood; growing up is an essential part of life. There comes a time in everyone’s life when this transition occurs. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch’s experiences lead her to the realization that she needs to mature and consider others prior to making a decision and acting upon it. Evidently, in the course of two and a half years, the 6-year-old transforms from an unruly and wild girl to a proper Southern lady of Maycomb. It is clear that Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age novel by looking at Scout’s innocence and immaturity at the beginning of the novel, her challenges and struggles, and her eventual maturity toward the end of the novel. Firstly, Scout’s actions illustrate her innocence and immaturity when she …show more content…
Scout prepares to fight Cecil even after Atticus makes her promise not to fight because inappropriate behavior on her part will only further his worries. Scout tells Jem about this argument and says: “Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers. I denied it, but told Jem. ‘What’d he mean saying that?’ I asked” (74). Cecil Jacobs calls out Atticus for defending a black man. She tells Jem about this incident and asks him what Cecil means. This shows that Scout does not know why she is upset. Scout is too young to understand prejudice and racism. She is also too innocent to understand what Cecil’s comment means and wants to fight him because it sounds rude. People that are mature experience racism and prejudice and understand discrimination. Young children assume that there is no injustice in the world or are simply unaware of it. By not being able to understand discrimination and being unaware of the evil in the world, Scout portrays her innocent and immature
As people grow in life, they mature and change. In the novel , To Kill a Mockingbird ,by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, matures as the book continues. Slowly but surely, Scout learns to control her explosive temper, to refrain from fistfights, and to respect Calpurnia, their maid, and to really learn her value to the family. Scout simply changes because she matures, and she also changes because Atticus, her father, asks her to.
As one grows older, he or she will eventually arrive to the same conclusion: life isn’t fair. In the outset of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, six year old Scout Finch is an innocent girl growing up in the town of Maycomb, unaware of the unfairness within. In the 1930s in Alabama, where racism runs rampant, it is all the more controversial when her father pledges to defend a black man over a white one. She is forced to mature more quickly after his case as the consequences crash down. Throughout a four year span, Scout grows to be more mature and respectful, but less innocent in the harsh realities of her time.
To demonstrate, when Scout stated “Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down. Atticus so rarely asked jem and me to do something for him, I could take being called a coward for him (Lee 88)”. This shows that Scout is taking Atticus’ request to heart and not wanting to embarrass him by fighting again. It also shows that Atticus messages and talks with scout about justice and judgment had gotten to her if she didn’t want to let him down by fighting another girl. To show sequence, For example, why Atticus is defending a man of colour, “You mean if you didn’t defend that man, Jem and me wouldn’t have to mind you anymore?” (Lee 86). The lessons that Atticus gives Scouts are essential to living in the “real world”, like respecting all races, and the fact that he’s defending a man of colour shows his children to treat people
Everywhere the Finch children go, they are met with sharp criticism. This could’ve been easily avoided if Atticus had simply thrown the case or not taken it at all. At school, Scout’s peers---especially Cecil Jacobs--- target her and her brother as a result of her father’s poor judgement. Cecil torments Scout in the schoolyard, and calls her father racial slurs. This provokes Scout, and causes her to act out and become violent.
The transition from innocence to experience is a major theme in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, The character of Scout, on particular, portrays this theme exceptionally well. At the beginning of the novel, Scout is an innocent, good-hearted five-year-old child who has no experience with the evils of the world, as the novel progresses, Scout has her first contact with evil and she begins to mature. By the end of the novel her persperctive on people changed from that of a child to that of a grown-up.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee involves growing up and maturing. There are many characters who undergo some type of character growth, but none more than Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. In the beginning of the novel Scout is a very naïve young girl, but by the end, she is a highly mature young lady who is ready to take on almost anything that the world may throw at her. The growth of Scout is fuelled through her exposure to events occurring around her, her questions and wonderings, and her relationships with other people.
As a child, Scout experienced injustice. Since she was just a child, it was very easy for others to treat her unjustly. Her classmates, Mrs. Caroline, and Mr. Ewell criticized and harmed her for unjust reasons. Cecil Jacobs, one of Scout 's classmates, said, “Scout Finch 's daddy defended niggers.” (Lee 99). Cecil insulted Scout, making her upset. Scout wanted to start a fight, but was stopped by her brother, Jem Finch. Even as a child,
In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee, the author has used numerous different methods to portray the themes of innocence, maturity and growing up. These themes were put in so that the audience could become more empathetic towards the characters, especially the protagonists. She depicts these themes through characters, events, using symbolism, imagery and contrast located throughout the book.
Atticus cares about scouts like her dad. Atticus feels a sense of parenting and that he needs to explain to her how fighting isn't the best thing to do. Because of this reassurance, Atticus taught scouts about no fighting with their friends, and how to be smarter about it. Equally important, Cecil Jacobs tells Scout some nasty things about her dad, talking about how he's a disgrace. Instead of Scout fighting her, she thinks back on what Atticus told her about fighting with her head, and then walks away.
As baby steps transform into bounding leaps, one must understand how to lengthen their stride mentally as they do physically. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee eloquently describes Scout and Jem’s journeys over the course of a few years that, in turn, cause them to mature individually as well as a duo. Their progressions as characters allow the reader to label the novel as one of maturation. Numerous experiences contribute to their growth and understanding of the world around them. Along the way, Scout and Jem learn to put themselves in other people’s shoes, that one should never kill a mockingbird, and that an individual should continue to fight regardless if they know that they are destined to lose.
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.
Growing up is an ability the human species were blessed and cursed with. It comes with aging, aching bodies and a greater awareness of the world. And yet, growing up also comes with an opportunity for us to invent an entirely new version of ourselves. We’re always changing, but the first drastic change in our lives is the coming of age. It’s something that signifies your shift from adolescence to adulthood. However, coming of age is more than just another transition of your life. It’s also about the life events and lessons that will stay with you as one matures. This monumental change in our existence has been found in countless numbers of stories. But, one remarkable example is a novel titled To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In the classic
The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee has many aspects in coming of age. The passage where Tom Robinson’s trial has just ended and Jem takes it the hardest out of everyone and we see a different side of Jem shows literary elements. In this passage, literary elements introduces character, conflict, and setting. He comes to a realization or “coming of age”.
When many people are children, their parents, grandparents, or anyone who poses as a parental figure tell them that they will become more mature with age. However, psychological maturity is mainly learned rather than simply accompanying a person’s ascent into adulthood. Inevitably people grow, but this statement proves the experiences a person has in their life, whether good or bad, will change the path he or she takes while growing up or even continuing his or her adult life. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jean-Louise “Scout” and Jem Finch are six and ten in the beginning of the book, respectively. Although they gain only three years by the end of the novel, the children develop even more mature mindsets than many of the physically grown-up people in the town. Three events that prompt this early maturation are a conversation that takes place between Atticus and Scout, Tom Robinson’s death, and the ordeal with Mrs. Dubose.
It’s interesting to see the ways different authors depict how a character matures. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mocking Bird we can easily see how she chose to do it. The novel is set in Alabama in the 1930’s, while black vs. white racism was a big issue and problem for many. Atticus is the father of Scout and Jem, young children who witness the discrimination first hand when their father, a white man, defends a black man in court. Lee does a great job developing the characters; especially the narrator, Jean Louise Finch (Scout). Scout’s thoughts, conversations, and actions, illustrate that she’s emotionally maturing from the innocent child that she was.