To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Research Paper

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.

Atticus is a lawyer who chooses to defend and black man, Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping and beating a white woman. Atticus truly believes that Tom is innocent but he finds it very difficult to convince the town of Maycomb of this. Tom is

Scout and Jem’s friend, Dill, also went to the court with the other kids. It really affected Dill, when Mr. Gilmer, the prosecutor started asking questions and accusing Tom Robinson about the case. Dill started to cry as he felt what Tom was going through during the harsh questioning. Dill was experiencing the same feeling as he was treated at home, as the felt neglected and treated like he was lower than the rest of his family. So when the prosecutor was questioning Tom, Dill could not hold his emotions in. “That old Mr. Gilmer doin’ him thataway, talking so hateful to him… Dill, that’s his job… It was the way he said me sick, plain sick” (page 198-199). This couple of sentences shows that Dill

“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” Many people get interpreted and read differently than what they truly are on the inside because we don’t have the mindset to understand their way of looking at life. The fundamental and often universal idea shown throughout To Kill A Mockingbird is coming of age, which is depicted through many incidents that occur. In a world full of standards Jean Louise is the only one noticeable because she doesn’t blend in with the rest of the girls her age. She is very outgoing and adventurous which gives her the name of a tomboy. Just because she seems tough doesn’t make her cold hearted because on the inside she is

To Kill a Mockingbird has a ”coming of age” theme set to it through everything that the protagonists experienced. The events in both the book and movie impacted the characters in both fortunate and unfortunate ways, which made them mature. The youngest protagonists were the ones who mainly experienced this, for the older characters already went through their Coming of Age. Jem had the most Coming of Age experiences in the whole story since he was on the borderline of becoming a teenager and taking on more serious responsibilities. Jem had to take responsibility and take care of his sister when while his father took Calpurnia home.

A Bildungsroman is a literary genre that focuses on the development, psychologically and morally, of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood, also known as coming of age. The character development plays an extremely important role in the novel. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, each of the main characters change during the events of the story. The children, Scout and Jem, change immensely compared to the other characters. Due to Jem’s puzzling personality and character, Scout showed the most change between the two. Scout transforms from a small, innocent little girl to a mature and experienced young woman.

Coming of age is the process a character goes through in order to mature. Scout and Jem both go through this process. Scout tells the story of To Kill a Mockingbird through the eyes of her 6 year old self. In chapter 10 Scout has an intervention with Miss Maudie about what her dad told her, it is a sin to kill a songbird. Miss Maudie agrees with Atticus' saying and this opens the eyes of Scout. Then, later in chapter 25, Scout reads Mr. Underwood's editorial on how the conviction of Tom Robinson is like the slaying of a songbird. This makes Scout understand more about why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, but still does not understand fully. Finally, in chapter 30, Scout finally fully understands why it is a sin to kill a mockingbird. She

Maturing is a natural process which molds every individual along the way. Two children, Scout and Jem, from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, learned about life by witnessing prejudice, observing the odd characteristics of their fellow townspeople, Maycombians, and simply grasping concepts as they grew older. Compared to colonial children, Scout and Jem lived a luxurious life. Early Americans started laboring at an extremely young age, which demonstrated how difficult life would be for the rest of their time. In the modern world, the expanding convenience of technology also complicates kids' lives. Modern adolescents may not wake with the sun to work on the farm, but they are pressured to keep up with the latest user-friendly technology as well as the demands of

"A coming of age experience can happen any time during one’s life, most often when it is least expected. It does not discriminate. It is the thread that sews humanity together, a phenomenon, which is undeniable. Convention tells us, it is a defining moment in a child’s life, when the world somehow becomes his or her own" (Heslov, pg. 1). Harper Lee did an excellent job of representing how Scout grew to comprehend the world around her in To Kill A Mockingbird. This novel could be considered a “coming of age” story because Scout learned how to understand people’s perspectives and their personal obstacles.

Growing up isn’t easy. Scout of all people showed us this, as she regularly tackled the mysteries and difficulties a young life has to offer, in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. Being a young child, finding your own path and becoming mature seems nearly impossible. What you are told is what you believe. Fortunately for Scout, she had influences such as Atticus, Calpurnia, and Jem to push her in the right direction, thus helping her reach a level of maturity that not many children had the ability to achieve. Likewise, Scout also managed to acquire a broader understanding of all things, especially as her naive opinions and suspicions of people were proven wrong more and more often. A crucial part of this story was focussed mainly on the

One truth scout needed to deal with was an Jem told her she needed to be more like a girl and grow up. I may have to encounter growing up in my Freshman year by realizing that I am in highschool now and need to be mature. For example once it comes to choices I need to act the age I am and pick the right choice. If one of my friends want me to go to a party that I know I shouldn't then I need to make the mature choice. Which is to stay home and make sure she is ok with it and realizing where I am coming from.

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout grows up in a small town where nothing normally happens. When her dad is given a case to defend a black man, she gets thrown into a world where racism has been the norm. She hasn’t been exposed to something like this, so she is confused, but she grows more mature in that time. She and Jem both come of age in different ways in the story and get a taste of the real world. Scout and Jem both show maturation throughout the book. Their father’s decision to defend a black man opens them up to the harsh world of racism and prejudice, meanwhile he shows them how to be compassionate to people and not to follow the norm. The reason To Kill A Mockingbird is a great coming-of-age story is that it lifts Scout and Jem out of the racist society norms and asks them to be more and model their father’s behavior. Even though racism is a big problem of our world today, it was a bigger problem when Jem and Scout were children.

What would the world be like if humans did not mature or come of age? Have humans always followed the rules and instructions of others? Coming of age allows a person’s mentality to grow and approach becoming an adult. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, uses literary elements to emphasize topics about courage, empathy, and coming of age. Throughout the book the main character Scout faces prejudice and other problems through the town of Maycomb. From page 74 to 77 of the book, Scout has a conflict with her classmate Cecil Jacobs. “The conflict began when” Cecil announced that Atticus, Scout’s father who is also a lawyer, defended niggers and was a disgrace to the town. Scout faces with internal conflict, external conflict, and the

I think both Aunt Alexandra and Scout are the cause for their poor communication. Aunt Alexandra is a very critical person and always speaks what is on her mind. Scout does not like when her aunt does this so she never encourages more talk.

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning book To Kill a Mockingbird was written in 1960. Lee grew up a tomboy in a small Alabama town just like the main character in the book. Lee’s “father was a lawyer and a member of the Alabama state legislature” which is also like the main character’s father (“Harper Lee Biography”). To Kill a Mockingbird is not only a coming of age novel, but also deals with racial and classist prejudices throughout the book. The setting of the book is in Alabama in the 1930’s which was a very different time in America than today. It was a time of the Great Depression and the south was overrun with racism and segregation. Harper Lee explores the theme of prejudice and racism throughout her novel To Kill a Mockingbird which