The Loss of Innocence and Maturity in to Kill a Mockingbird

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.

According to the reading, “Scout, I think I am beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside” (Lee 304). The quote shows that Boo really isn’t that mean, senseless monster, but maybe a wise man. Boo staying in his house affects Jem’s thinking of Maycomb and its equality, where Jem understands Boo’s incentives. Jem thinks, maybe Boo believes our society is not right because earlier in the book Jem states, “If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other?” (Lee 304). This shows that Jem is beginning to understand that the belief of whites and blacks being completely different isn’t right. Boo’s wanting to stay inside is caused by the messed up environment around him, and now Jem is starting to understand his reasons too. This quote shows that Boo is smart, and that Jem and Scout have a completely new view of

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

First, Jem, Dill and Scout are curious about Boo (Arthur) Radley since he has not been seen out of his house in several years. One day, the children write a letter to Boo, wondering if he is still alive. Atticus caught them, red-handed, when they were about to put the letter in Boo’s house and said, “I’m going to tell you something and I’m going to tell you one time: stop tormenting that man. That goes for the two of you” (65). Jem, Scout and Dill learn that cannot torment Boo.

make fun of or judge a guest of the house. In her innocence, she had

Mr Radley was ashamed of his son’s behaviour when he got into the wrong crowd as a youngster and punished him by locking him up. There is a lot of gossip around Maycomb about Boo and people blame him for any bad things that happen in the neighbourhood, ‘Any stealthy crimes committed in Maycomb were his work.’ Jem turns him into a monster, ‘his hands were blood-stained’, and ‘his eyes popped’. At the end of the novel however, we find that Boo is misunderstood, and gossip of the town’s folk has made him up to be a ‘malevolent phantom’. Scout tells us he is timid, he had, ‘the voice of a child afraid of the dark’.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a beautiful story depicting a family living in the South of the 1930’s, and their struggle against the prejudice which was common to that time. The book centers on Atticus Finch, the father of the family as well as a lawyer, and his fight against prejudice. We see the story unfold through the innocent eyes of his young daughter, Scout, who is free from prejudice and not yet jaded. By viewing events as Scout sees them, the author shows us how to overcome prejudices, and gain tolerance.

The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee has many aspects in coming of age. The passage where Tom Robinson’s trial has just ended and Jem takes it the hardest out of everyone and we see a different side of Jem shows literary elements. In this passage, literary elements introduces character, conflict, and setting. He comes to a realization or “coming of age”.

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.

Have you ever experienced an event that changed your opinions or feelings towards a certain thing? This was the case of Jean Louise or Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout shows a loss of innocence throughout the novel as she is faced with the case of Tom Robinson, which impacts her life as a whole by making her realize that not everyone is like Atticus.

           Furthermore, on morals, Jem takes his father's advice and steps into other people’s places and sees things from their point of view. One example of this would be how Jem comes to the realization that Arthur Radley, the town shut in who is also known as Boo, stays in his home because he wants to. When realizing this, Jem not only creates a moral but also begins to think for himself instead of believing the lies told by the town gossips. In the beginning of the story Jem believes Arthur has stayed in his house all this time because he is forced to. Jem also believes that Boo is insane and has tried to kill his own family. Nonetheless, Jem does step into Arthur’s shoes and see the town from his perspective. By doing this Jem sees the town as a hateful place filled with judge full people and explains it to Scout that Arthur stays inside because he wants too. This actualization of Arthur ensures that Jem uses this technique with many other situations.

At the beginning of the novel, Boo Radley is addressed. Rumors have floated around, referring to Boo as a “malevolent phantom” while accusing him of being guilty of “any stealthy small crimes that were committed in Maycomb.” When Scout was younger she believed in these rumors, and always felt on edge when close to the Radley Place. Despite this, Scout, her brother Jem, and her friend Dill always attempted to try and get Boo out of his creepy abode.

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.

At the beginning of the story, Jem and Scout was young , childish and lacked the ability to see things from other's point of view. From the children's point-of-view, their most compelling neighbor is Boo Radley, a man that always stay in his house and none of them has ever seen. During the summer , they find Boo as a chracacter of their amusement. They sneak over to Boo house and get a peek at him. They also acting out an entire Radley family. "Jem parceled out our roles: I was Mrs. Radley, and all I had to do was come out andsweep the porch. Dill was old Mr. Radley: he walked up and down the sidewalk andcoughed when Jem spoke to him. Jem, naturally, was Boo: he went under the frontsteps and shrieked and howled from time to time"(chapter 4). Eventually , Atticus catch them and order

I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time... it’s because he wants to stay inside.'' This is the first step Jem and Scout take to understand Boo, as Jem realizes that, with all the hate going around in Maycomb, maybe Boo just wants to stay inside, away from society. From now on, the kids become less preoccupied with Boo as their, and the reader’s, perception of him changes. While Boo is still an other, he is no longer a monster and is now more of a mockingbird, an innocent neighbor trying to stay inside, away from the hate Jem and Scout are currently experiencing in