Walking in Someone’s Skin Scout’s Developing Judgement in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird “Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of two forces working together” - James Cash Penney. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Scout demonstrates personal growth through the decreasing use of the N-word and refrained use of violent actions. Scout’s increased maturity often extends far past the community of Maycomb and those around her. Scout shows immaturity through her vulgar langauge and wreckless actions. Scout and Jem, often loosely use the highly offensive N-word because they are unaware of the stigma and negative connotations around the word. In the text Scout states ‘ “ Do you defend niggers Atticus?” I asked him that evening. “ Of course …show more content…
She begins to understand the underlying racism issues in her community. Scout comprehends the severity and injustice around the black community and the trial. Her stances and morals often differ from those in Maycomb. She begins to question the ethnicty of her own family ‘ “ Well how do you know we ain’t negroes” “ Uncle Jack Finch says we really don’t know. He says as far as he can trace back the finches ain’t but for all he knows we mighta come straight out of Ethiopia” ’(216). As Scout grows, she becomes intrigued with learning about the minority in Maycomb. Compartitvely, Scout displays maturity when she increasingly begins to develop and interest in no longer wearing her boyish overalls but preferably, joining her aunt in a more lady-like environment. “ I carefully picked up the tray and watched myself walk to Mrs. Merriweather, with my best company manners, I asked her if she would have some. After all if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I” (318). The arrangements that Scout had previously deemed boring, soon became absorbing and engaging. Scout begins to paint an ideal image of a young
He has put himself, and his family at the top, and black people at the bottom. Throughout the book, Harper Lee there introduces the Cunninghams, who are more poor than Finch’s, and then the Ewells, who are the poorest, living behind the dump. On the other hand, Miss Caroline, an outsider from northern Alabama, does not understand the social ranks in Maycomb. Scout tries to explain to her, ‘“That’s okay, ma’am, you'll get to know all the county folks after a while”’ (Lee 22).
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 Scout gets a little older, she soon realizes that she will have to start acting like a lady. She begins to understand why Aunt Alexandra wants her to act the way that she does. She comes to understand her Aunt and believes there is something interesting in learning how to be a lady. She most realizes this when Jem and Dill go swimming and she couldn't go because they are swimming nude. Aunt Alexandra decides to invite the missionary Ladies for a tea party to discuss the current events in the town of Maycomb (their hometown). Aunt Alexandra dresses Scout up in a dress
As a child grows, many people influence their development as a person. Some people impact more than others, and a select few really leave their mark. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” several characters play this role. Among them, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a woman who proves herself a strong character, prevails as the one who has the greatest impact on Scout Finch, the protagonist of this novel. As Scout matures and grows up, her views on the world around her change. Through subtle yet effective ways, Miss Maudie teaches Scout many life lessons about being humble, judging, and attitude, all of which ultimately have a great effect on the kind of person Scout develops into and her outlook on the world.
Harper Lee introduces Scout as an insensible tomboy caught in the midst of contrite prejudicial conception. She has not yet discovered what is right and wrong due to various misconceptions that the people of Maycomb
Throughout this novel, Scout gains insight into herself by learning to cope with racism. Scout first discovers that her father is defending Tom Robinson, an African American in the Maycomb community after she gets into a brawl with Cecil Jacobs when he calls her father a “nigger-lover”. “Atticus had promised me he would wear me out if he ever heard of me fighting anymore … the sooner I learned to hold in, the better off everybody would be”(Pg. 74). This quote shows how Scout has to cope with different ways to deal with the racism directed toward her father for defending a black man. Moreover, Scout learns to refrain from showing belligerence to those who insult her family and, instead turns to ignoring them and not giving them a reaction. When Scout acts out and harms those who are racist toward her family, it shows how she finds racism morally incorrect. Though she does not know what the term nigger-lover means, she still acts out because she is aware that it is an offensive term. Scout believes that people should not be discriminated against and her bursts of anger support this concept. Racism provides maturing children insight into themselves because whilst Scout
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.
Halfway through the novel, Scout encounters complications when she visits her relatives at Christmas and becomes entangled in a fistfight with her cousin over Atticus defending Tom Robinson. This is where Scout gets the first inklings of the idea that she, Atticus and Jem, do not belong with the social standards that the rest of the family follows. Further obstacles arise when Aunt Alexandra starts living with the Finch’s. Aunt Alexandra, more of a hassle than a help to Scout, attempts to bring her up to be a ‘proper young lady’, much to Scout’s displeasure. Scout does not feel as though she belongs to the societal standard of growing up to become a lady. The Finch’s family life is then juxtaposed with the life of the black population of the town. The black community has a lower social class than the white
This quote also shows that Scout takes notice of the regular use of the N word. Another quote that shows this is from page seventy nine, when Scout uses the N word, and rationalizes the word by noting that everyone in the community, and even her peers, use it as well. Scout questions, “” “Do you defend n-----, Atticus?” I asked him that evening. “Of course I do. Don’t say n----, Scout. That’s common.” “‘s what everybody at school says.” “From now on, it’ll be everybody less one---” ‘” This quote is one of the most telling about the way the atmosphere and normalized use of slurs affects Scout, and her classmates as well. Scout views the N word as a common part of her vocabulary and the vocabulary of those around her, and its offensive and crude roots are unbeknownst to Scout. The atmosphere of racial discrimination and the use of slurs normalizes and spreads racism to the children of To Kill A Mockingbird.
A mother of a gay student that faced bullying stated in an article, that anyone who has “‘’hate in their hearts’” should accept people with differences because they are “‘going to be who they are’” (James, Boy Assaults Gay Student as Cellphone Captures Attack). In a perfect society, everyone would accept each other and not judge others based on appearance or social status. However, today many people still face the problem of acceptance. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, illustrates how others can learn to be accepting from the characters in the novel. Scout leaves her naïve childhood behind and changes to into an accepting young adult through
To Kill a Mockingbird by Nelle Harper Lee, was narrated by six-year-old Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and is influenced by her young age. Harper Lee created a book about deep topics and lightened them through Scout’s childhood memories. The book describes a racist situation through the eyes of a child, and Scout’s journey to see right from wrong. Scout sees throughout the story that African Americans deserve freedom as much as anyone. The book is affected by its narrator’s age because of its innocence, Scouts ignorance, and the adult ideas put into a child's life.
First of all, Lee’s critical tone of prejudice is demonstrated by Scout’s innocent curiosity and perception of her surrounding society. Specifically, Lee’s critical tone is illustrated by Scout’s curiosity and the numerous questions she asks her family members throughout the duration of the novel. For example, when Scout raises questions to her Aunt Alexandra concerning her prejudice towards the Cunningham family, her innocence is exhibited by her desire to understand the world, but also to question it. A specific example of Scout’s curiosity is when Aunt Alexandra informs Scout not to invite Walter over for dinner, which leads Scout to ask “Why not, Aunty? They’re good folks” (223). Aunt Alexandra responds with: “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem” (224). Aunt Alexandra’s response exemplifies her prejudice towards the structure of the social classes in Maycomb County. However, Scout’s innocent nature enables her to remain uncorrupted by prejudice and to question the unquestionable. Lee’s use of a child as a narrator allows her to ask the tough questions regarding Maycomb County’s way of life and question why it is prejudiced towards a certain individual or group of individuals. Moreover, Harper Lee’s choice of narration
By observing Scout’s reaction, readers see that social injustice happens daily, worldwide. Through Scout’s eyes, readers are allowed a vision of the world around us as it truly is. The fact that people learn the social injustice of racism is totally unacceptable.
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.
Scout begins to realize that the dearing town of Maycomb isn’t exactly what she had figured it to be. Evil things are starting to come across her path and her outlooks on fellow citizens are changing. In chapters sixteen to twenty one, Scout watches her father defend Tom Robinson, a man of colour, against Mayella Ewell, a young white lady who has accused Tom of raping her. The only reason Tom was convicted of raping Mayella is simply due to the fact that he received an unfair, bias vote by the jury because he is a black man. Racism is a big issue during the time period Scout is living in although she didn’t realize it until the end of the trial. “The evil assumption, that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that