To Kill A Mockingbird Learning Over Time Essay

Everyday, people of all ages lose their innocence and develop morally through their daily experiences. Children deal with mishaps on the playground, conflicts with friends and family, and trouble in school. Similarly, Adults deal with conflicts within their own families, problems at work, and the loss of a loved one. In each situation, the person is learning important lessons that impact the way a person thinks, acts, approaches situations, and treats others. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem loses his innocence and grows morally through his daily experiences in three stages of understanding in Maycomb, Alabama.

As children grow up, they open their eyes to the harsh truths in the world around them that they once did not understand or question. This is experienced by the main characters of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. The story is of a girl called Scout and her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when the children’s lawyer father, Atticus, takes the case of an obviously innocent African-American man and they convict him in their hearts before the trial even starts. Through this all, we can see the theme of loss of innocence in the children. Lee uses characterization to portray

She says in her year starting third grade, “I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing by the old place [Radley Place], at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley” (324). Scout is starting to understand how Arthur Radley might have felt with three young children fooling around near his house and develops empathy. This is in contrast to the beginning of the book when Scout thinks of Arthur as a monster. Now realizing how she, Jem, and Dill were only a bother to someone like Arthur who prefered to be alone. After walking Arthur back home from her house, Scout shows similar empathy once again.

Imagine a world where evil and unjust actions are based on the color of skin; a world where some don’t even realize that they are prejudicing. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, these themes are present. People and how they commit evil, hypocritical, and unjust acts. We see these themes and great issues through the point of view of a child; the vigorous, youthful, elementary-aged Scout. Through this character Harper Lee shows the innocence of children, and what they go through in our inequitable world.

After Scout fights with Cecil Jacobs at her school for calling Atticus a ‘nigger-lover’, she is told by her father to “ just hold your head high and keep those fists down.” (Lee, 76) Atticus is expressing that one should not let others get to them and stand up for themselves. She takes up the courage to do so the next time she is yelled at by the boy, although with much difficulty. Through this account, Scout’s willingness to learn and grow is portrayed. Also, Scout is able to stand by her morals when she confronts the mob with Jem and Dill. She demonstrates this by kicking the man who harmed Jem and eventually repressing the mob to leave the county jail, in order to protect her brother and Atticus. The ultimate fear Scout conquers was her unease of ‘Boo’ or Arthur Radley. In the beginning, she identifies Arthur as a mysterious and frightening person who lives on the other side of the street. After Arthur saves Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell’s attack, she realizes that Arthur wasn’t so frightening anymore and learns to embrace her fear. She does so by walking Arthur home and when she stands on his porch for the second time, not with fear, but with understanding. Scout was able to progress as an individual, stand up for her beliefs, and embrace her fears throughout the

Anne Frank once said “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it is a bildungsroman novel that follows Jem Finch as he grows up in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930s. Over the course of several summers he, along with his sister Scout , face obstacles and challenges which consist of their mean old neighbor Ms.Dubose and the recluse Boo Radley. Although, in the beginning of the novel, Jem still is a child physically and mentally, and we witness him mature and grow up. We see Jem deal with problems that arise in a more mature manner. Lee shows that even someone as childish as Jem can grow up and learn to

Scout realized that if they took it to court that Arthur Radley killed Bob Ewell, then the whole town would be focused on Arthur and how he’s still alive. They would be putting his privacy at risk and no one wanted that to change for him: “Scout,” he said. “Mr. Ewell fell on his knife. Can you possibly understand?” “Yes sir, I understand,” I reassured him. “Mr. Tate was right.” Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me.”What do you mean?” “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”(Lee 370). Scout finally understood everything that she had been taught. She knew that taking this to court would hurt Mr. Arthur because he never did anything but help the children. He did not want to go in front of the entire town and give a testimony. She used a great metaphor to show what she has experienced has taught her well. In (Source B), Sebastien wasn’t focused on the fame of his singing career. He was focused on his brother’s health. Like when it said, “He hoped his singing career would help his younger brother get surgery for his hearing problem.” When people grow up, they know they can affect the lives of others and they have to make smart, well thought out decisions. Sebastien wasn’t focused on the people making fun of him or getting mad at him. He was focused on his brother and getting enough money for the surgery. He’s grown up and he’s able to make responsible decisions for the

As seen in this quote readers are able to see how discrimination pushes mindsets to choose herd mentality or individuality. Here readers can see that Jem understands the wrong and that he chooses to believe in his own thoughts and ideas about it. Though he is at a loss what to do about it. Another quote that shows he sees the wrong in the town's ways is when he is talking with Miss Maudie. “Who?’ Jem’s voice rose. ‘Who in this town did one thing to help Tom Robinson, just who?” (Lee 246). This shows how he feels about the trial and the prejudice that arises in the trial.

One’s childhood innocence is never lost, it simply plants the seed for the flower of maturity to bloom. It seems that almost every adult chooses to either forget or ignore this childhood vulnerability. But ironically, it was this quality that pushed them into adulthood in the first place. At the peak of their childhood, their post climactic innocence allows room for the foundation of maturity to begin to grow. In the sleepy southern town of Maycomb this is exactly what happens to eight years old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. In To Kill a Mockingbird the character Scout is forced to surround herself with a very adult situation, when a trial comes to the small town of Maycomb. The trial raises the question that shakes the entire town up, what

Lastly, Atticus emphasizes how vital inner peace and making the moral decision in a given situation is to maturation. For instance, in a conversation with his children, Atticus comments, “Before I can live with other folks I got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by a majority rule is a man’s conscience.” (Lee 105) By emphasizing the importance of having personal integrity and doing the ethical thing in any circumstance, Atticus provides his children with wisdom that will carry them through life. Therefore, through unremittingly reiterating the importance of moral decisions, proving the need for pacifism and establishing the importance of multiple perspectives, Atticus verifies himself as a major contributor in Jem and Scout’s development into adolescence.

Growing up happens during the magical times of freedom given to children in their early years. Wise parents discern when freedom is necessary for their children, are very clear about their expectations, and determine fitting consequences for actions out of line. Harper Lee personifies this role of a wise and caring parent in the father figure of her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, a character made to mirror the author’s own father, is a lawyer and a well-respected citizen of his Southern Alabama town. Through Atticus, Harper Lee establishes a standard of good and evil, developing the theme of morality during his interactions. Atticus establishes right from wrong in most every relationship, especially with his children, his

Children sit in school for eight hours a day for at least twelve years in their lives, learning how to read and multiply. However, children learn the most important lessons in life outside of the classroom walls. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem discover powerful lessons about life through their father, Atticus, community and experiences. They view an unjust trial of a black man against a white woman, and find that the world is cruel and that they must treat all people with respect. They judged and bothered their neighbor Boo Radley, but he later saves the two of them. Through this, Scout understands not to make assumptions about people until she gets to know them. Also, through Scout’s experiences in school, she finds that

Mr. Tate and Atticus realize that Boo Radley saved Scout and Jem (Lee, 370). Everyone in Maycomb believes Boo Radley is a crazy person who stabbed his father, and went to prison for it. Scout learns first hand that Boo is not crazy or dangerous, only a man who prefers to be alone. When Scout and Jem go to church with Calpurnia, they observe that blacks are the same as whites (Lee, 158-167). Scout did not believe blacks where as terrible as the whites of Maycomb think they are. She picks up that whites wrongly judge people solely because of their skin tone. "'She's dead, son' said Atticus. 'She's not suffering any more. She was sick for a long time. Son didn't you know what her fits where?' Jem shook his head. 'Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict'"(Lee, 147). Scout believed Mrs. Dubose is a grumpy old lady who hates everyone. She feels a great deal of remorse when she finds out Mrs. Dubose is a recovering drug addict. Scout grasps the concept to not believe in rumors, because they paint the wrong image of people.

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.

Eileen Kennedy-Moore once said, “the path of self discovery is a journey of discovery that is clear only in retrospect, and it’s rarely a straight line.” This quote can define Jeremy Atticus Finch’s experience throughout his time in Maycomb county in To Kill a Mockingbird as a child. I’m the story, Jem and his sister Scout are forced to grow up rather quickly as their father defends a colored man, Tom Robinson, of rape in which the town highly disagrees on. The town does not keep this feeling hidden. As the trial occurs it is clear that Tom is innocent and should be released. The opposite of this happens and Tom is concluded as guilty. Which leads to two highly upset children. Jeremy, who is referred to as Jem, begins as the average