What Is Atticus Finch's Childhood In To Kill A Mockingbird

Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the narrator and protagonist, Scout, grows not only physically and emotionally as well. Through experience, Scout undergoes emotional change, taking her from her child self, to her more developed self. In addition, Scout learns through observing others and learning that they are not who she believes to be. And although a great deal of Scout’s development can be credited toward her superiors who directly teach her, it is Scout herself who truly discovers what maturity is, and how its relation to morality makes the world.

The perspective of a child is very much different to the perspective of an adult. A child with their lack of experience in the world have their naive outlook and irrational fears of life. On the other hand, an adult, who have had more experience with life, have more rational explanations and cynical aspect of life. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the readers go through the story in the eyes of a child Scout Finch, an unreliable narrator, trying to explain the conflicts of the world of adults. The book is about the Finch family against the prejudice and discrimination of the South when the father of the family Atticus, a lawyer, is defending an African American wrongfully accused of a crime. In Part 1 of the book, Harper Lee

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

As people get older they go through experiences in their life that can change them in bad ways or most of the time change them in good ways.This good change occurs usually by the experiences teaching them important lessons they should know in life.These changes are very important in ones life because it matures them into an adult. This transformation happens to certain characters in every novel and it is called coming of age. In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, both Jem and Scout go through this coming of age and learn what it means to be courageous, the unfairness of the world, and to look at other people's perspective before judging them.

In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ written by Harper Lee, the author has used numerous different methods to portray the themes of innocence, maturity and growing up. These themes were put in so that the audience could become more empathetic towards the characters, especially the protagonists. She depicts these themes through characters, events, using symbolism, imagery and contrast located throughout the book.

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

Jem’s entire perspective of the world is thrown into chaos so he retreats into a state of disillusionment. However, Scout, maintains her faith in humanity. Atticus elaborates by saying as you grow older; you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life. Lee uses this scene to show the reader that racism is learnt. Scout gradually emerging from her innocence to the realization that people have different outlooks on the world and that these often include prejudice and hate which have been obtained by harsh experiences. Lee intends to show the reader that innocence is precious and once experience marrs, you cannot return to innocence. When Scout meets Dolphus Raymond, she learns not to trust the stereotypes that society casts on people because you never really know a person until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Scout’s narration showcases her struggle with the realization that not everyone values integrity and morals.

Atticus Finch was a lawyer and a father in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the height of the great depression. He is a beloved character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. He accepts a case in which he serves as the criminal defense lawyer of a black man who is on trial for rape, in a time where racial discrimination was still very much alive.

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.

Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a study in the way people’s view of the world changes as they grow older. To Kill a Mockingbird is from the point of view of a six year old girl, Scout, the daughter of a lawyer. She is forced to grow up quickly when Atticus defends an innocent black man in the South, much to the dismay of most of the white citizens. Lee uses similes and personification in To Kill a Mockingbird to show the challenges and discoveries that children make while transitioning from a child to an adult.

Growing up is a difficult task, especially when the town around you doesn’t offer to help you understand what’s going on around you. Using many examples of the loss of childhood innocence, Harper Lee shows us that a corrupted society leads to growing up faster and one’s childhood is stripped away. Through Jem, the eldest of the Finch children, and Scout, the youngest, the readers see how a trial in 1930 Alabama takes a toll of young minds. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that growing up leads to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.

The society Scout grew up in was one of judgement and classification of people by things they can not control, such as race. A clear example of the way that the community would label an African American was stated by Atticus, “Scout, nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything- like

One of the characters the reader can most easily follow through this change is the protagonist, Scout. Scout begins the book as an innocent young girl who finds no wrong in the world around her, but as the trial commences and tensions run high, Scout soon learns of the evils the world possesses. Society’s hatred for the blacks is shown so commonly in everyday life that all the children in the novel use the word nigger in an innocent way. Society has taught these kids at a young age that calling the negroes niggers is the cultural norm and that they are expected to use it. Atticus reminds Scout not to use the term, but Scout points out the prevalent usage in their world. “‘Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.’ ‘’s what everybody at school says.’’From now on it’ll be everybody less one—’‘Well if you don’t want me to grow up talkin‘ that way, why do you send me to school?’(77). This conversation shows the reader that the influence on kids to use racist terms is heavy, even the kids can see it. Scout’s brother, Jem, is also influenced by the public’s thoughts. Scout overhears Atticus telling their uncle that he hopes he can get Jem “‘through it without bitterness, and most of all, without catching Maycomb’s usual disease’” (91). The disease Atticus is referring to is the racism the town shows toward negroes. He recognizes that it is common in the town around them, but

When you are young, you don't realize or understand everything that you would if you were older with some experience of how things work out. In my essay I will guide you through the authors written path to understanding the little and big things in life. The book, To Kill a Mockingbird, traces from innocence, to harsh reality, to understanding through the characters of Atticus's children, Scout, and Jem. Throughout the story, these children go on a wild ride and realize a couple a different things. As we grow older, we learn new things.

Author Patrick Rothfuss once said, “When we are children, we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can.” As one grows and matures, the once kind and clear reality reveals it’s true colors, as childhood’s innocence and protection fades away. Childhood allows one to mature without trauma from any outward events. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, she uses conflict and symbolism to convey the importance of the temporary insulation and protection childhood and its innocence provides.