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Scout's Maturity

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Maturity is not a quality you see everyday from children. Most of the time children are running around playing with friends and family, asking silly questions, and even fulfilling their imaginations. This is the case for Scout and Jem too, initially at least. Scout is the son of Atticus Finch, a lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama. Scout’s brother is Jem and they have a fairly close relationship. In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee Scout and Jem endure and encounter many life-changing events that cause them to mature, from experiencing racism and almost being killed to witnessing their father defend a black man accused of rape in the South during the early to mid 1900s. The theme of maturation significantly applies to the novel as Scout …show more content…

Their maturity comes with time, and it defines them as individuals and characters. Scout, the protagonist in this novel, matures the most, and she experiences all types of events that cause her to “come of age”. During the beginning of the novel, Scout is talking to Atticus, her father, about her first day of school. Scout had a rough first day and she dislike Miss Caroline, who was her first grade teacher. Atticus gave her a piece of advice, and he said, “ You never really understand a person until you consider things from his his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (Lee 39). Although this advice from Atticus to Scout did not cause a revelation right away, it really helped Scout in the long run. Atticus taught her not to write people off right away, and that you do not understand a person until you are placed in their exact situation. This significantly helped Scout mature, and it caused her to become a better person, who believes in racial equality and better moral standards. Specifically, this helped Scout mature in the end of the novel, when Boo Radley, her mysterious neighbor saves her and her brother Jem from Bob Ewell. Bob Ewell wanted revenge against Atticus for defending Tom Robinson and making him look bad in the process. Boo saving Scout and Jem, caused Scout to take Atticus’s advice to heart. Scout said, “ I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle… Atticus was right. One time he said you never really understand a person until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” ( Lee 373-374). This shows how Scout actually matured. She finally understood Boo Radley, and she realized that he was not a bad person. Scout found out that Boo cares and that he is not the awful person people think he is. Although he is mysterious, Scout is forever grateful to him

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