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Scout Is A Dynamic Character In To Kill A Mockingbird

Decent Essays

In the Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout is displayed throughout the novel as the main protagonist. As time develops, she becomes more of a dynamic character that experiences change and grows from her experiences. Scout is a character that changes and demonstrates it in many instances in the story. When Atticus makes the decision to defend Tom Robinson, it is clear that the town does not approve of it. The hatred quickly spreads to Scout, who is assaulted with hate speech. An instance where this occurs when Cecil Jacobs calls her father names in which he says, “My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an’ that n****r oughta hang from the water-tank!” (Lee, 102) Scout nearly lets herself go to fight Cecil, but then remembers that Atticus …show more content…

She even lets Cecil Jacobs call her a “cow-ward” in order to keep her promise. The situation shows how much respect she has for Atticus. Not only does Scout have to endure such harsh language, she has to keep herself from lashing out. This perseverance demonstrates change from the beginning of the book to at the current point. After Walter Cunningham caused her to be embarrassed in front of the classroom, Scout states, “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when… ‘He made me start off on the wrong foot.’” (Lee, 30) The start of the book shows Scout using revenge to justify her anger. Contrasting to her current situation, she grows and learns to not settle her emotions through physical means. She does unfortunately snap when Francis insults her. “Francis looked at me carefully, concluded that I had been sufficiently subdued, and crooned softly, ‘N****r-lover…” (Lee, 112) The fury clouds her mind and proceeds to harm Francis profusely, where she receives consequences from Uncle Jack. Even so, growth is shown in the situation when Scout requests, “Promise you won’t tell Atticus about this. He-he asked me one time not to let anything I heard about him make me mad, an’ I’d ruther him

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