Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Recently, I have read both a Raisin in the Sun and To Kill a Mockingbird, both considered literary classics. They share a number of similar themes and character that face similar situations. Ultimately, they have extremely different plots, but address the same issues; some that were common around the time they were published, and some that carry relevance into current times. What I wish to bring to light in this essay is that in both novels, there are many characters that lives’ hit a shatter-point in the course of the story. This shatter-point is where the characters’ lives are irrevocably changed, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. What I’m going to explore is how these characters cope with the emotional fallout of

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.

This novel is real in its portrayal of the 1930s. As a result, The children in this book are exposed to very graphic things at a young age. This results in a very sped up way of growing up, and Harper Lee gives examples throughout the book that show that loss of innocence or facing harsh realities that exist in the real world. This is shown greatly through the eyes of Jean Louise Finch. She faces the reality of Maycomb’s dark personality and has to see some horrible things. This vastly speeds up how fast she grows up because she has to. It is also to a lesser degree with Jem mostly because he isn't the central focus of the book (To Kill A Mockingbird) so the reader doesn't know his thoughts. The author outlines a great point that the with the loss of innocence comes wisdom and unfortunately hard truth’s.

¨Over time, naturally, you lose your innocence from gaining knowledge. You can't be innocent forever, but there's something in innocence you need to regain to be creative.¨ (Albert Hammond) In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem loses his innocence from gaining knowledge about Tom Robinson's case.

As a child, Harper Lee’s father took part in the Scottsboro boys case as a lawyer. This event in her life inspired her to write To Kill a Mockingbird, which takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Her father, like Scout’s, was a lawyer in the case. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee foreshadows a loss of innocence through the significance of snow, the white camellia, and the mockingbird.

As children grow up, they experience changes in their personality. It may be alright to go shoot birds of all sorts, but it is a sin to kill an innocent Mockingbird. Loss of innocence has been displayed through many pieces of literature. This is clearly shown in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The three children of Maycomb lose their innocence through the novel because of prejudice, lack of affection from family and acceptance.

Harper Lee presents the idea that as children grow up, they learn and experience the harsh truths about the world they once did not understand or question. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, encompasses the story of a girl named Scout along with her older brother, Jem, who go through the trials of growing up in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama. Racism is rampant in the mindset of the townspeople, shown when Atticus, both a father and lawyer, takes on the case of an innocent African-American man. Through this, we can see young character development in where main characters Scout, Jem, and Dill undergo the theme of innocence and experience. Lee uses characterization to portray Scout as the embodiment of innocence, and soon after shows the

One of the first people to influence the justice system was Jim Crow. Or at least that was the name he gave himself and the name he used to stereotype a black man. His real name was Thomas D. Rice. He was a comedian that painted his face black and ruined the reputation of black people by acting as a neanderthal. In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee delves deeper about this by writing about the life of a young girl named Scout and her life in Maycomb County. We learn about the chauvinism that the white people had for themselves and the bigotry they held towards African Americans. Harper Lee's theme of loss of innocence is that everyone loses their innocence. It will happen. It could happen early in life or later. The main fact is, no one stays innocent and perfect their entire life and even the nicest, kindest person can lose their innocence and change to become entirely different.

When an innocent black man is controversially charged and killed on conviction of rape, two young siblings will discover their town is not as perfect as they thought in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the novel, the girl, Scout, and her older brother, Jem, start out as innocent and carefree children, but undergo a change as problems arise for their family as a result of supporting the convicted yet innocent man, Tom Robinson. As Jem and Scout grow up and start to learn about their world, Lee introduces different scenarios in which Jem and Scout learn that not everyone in their world is kind and understanding. This makes the reader realize that innocence is a pure thing that only the most kind, carefree people can preserve, but

Although Jem and Scout Finch are portrayed to be examples of childhood innocence, they are also being influenced by the people of Maycomb. Boo Radley, Atticus Finch, and the Cunninghams are a few examples of some people that Jem and Scout have gotten influenced by throughout the novel. Although they're many other experiences or people that have influenced Jem and Scout, these three examples stuck out.

Innocence is defined as the lack of guile or corruption, in other words, purity. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, one can see that a “sin to kill a mockingbird” represents the “killing” of a child’s innocence. This can be seen when Harper Lee kills the innocence of Jem and Tom Robinson. The idea of “killing a Mockingbird” can still be seen in society today when a celebrity’s innocence is ruined by media and gossip.

Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are numerous implicit indications of symbolism that the author conceals behind items and ideas, but a main one that was found was the innocence of the Mockingbird. This was seen with Tom Robinson (a black man), Scout, and Boo Radley. For instance, Tom Robinson was living in a prejudiced world and was named guilty for an act he didn’t do. This led to his intentional death in prison. His death was done intentionally for a reason. Since he lost a rigged law case because of his skin color, he saw no reason of why he should live longer, but this could have been prevented by the jury/decision of the case, but the loss of the case was the metaphorical death of the Mockingbird. In fact,

To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a tiny southern town in Alabama in 1932. The tiny town of Maycomb was home to deep rooted racism. Two children named Scout and Jem live in this town with their father Atticus and when their father is sent to defend a black man their lives see a dramatic change. The children soon learn the harsh truth of their little town and lose a childhood full of innocence. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee foreshadows a loss of innocence through the symbolic significance of building a snowman, a harsh fire, and a mockingbird.

The fascinating story To Kill A Mockingbird takes place in a sleepy, southern county of Maycomb in the 1930s. Although this town has a variety of pleasant and honorable citizens who have set morals, there are also people who live in Maycomb County who are unfair, possibly evil, and lack morals.

In this novel, innocence is represented from all ages yet all still contribute to the mockingbird factor. Charles Baker “Dill” Harris doesn’t develop and mature throughout the story. In this way, he is seen as a mocking bird because he’s innocent by his childish actions. His childish actions flow throughout To Kill A Mockingbird and he never changes this lifestyle, because that’s all he knows how to do. An example of this is in the court scene when we wasn’t aware of what’s going on, “Dill leaned across me and asked Jem what Atticus was doing”(Lee 254). In this scene the children snuck into the courthouse to listen to Atticus defend Tom Robinson, and Dill is questioning what is happening in the court.This scene is an example of