In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, the writer uses the experiences of Scout and Jem to show their coming of age, and how they learn to understand people for who they are, and not what rumors say they are. It portrays a strong message that you never really understand someone until you have put yourself in their shoes, or in their skin, as Atticus would say, “and walked around in them”. At the beginning of the story, Scout and Jem are childish, naive siblings, who wish to learn more about, as well as provoke the character Boo Radley, they believe the rumors that he is the town’s lunatic. As they grow up, they begin to learn that people are categorized and judged on the way they look and by the colour of their skin. Through their father, Atticus they learn to view people and society from a different perspective, learning from his wisdom. Atticus is determined to encourage values of equality to his children. Scout and Jem then come to understand how discriminating their town is. Harper Lee highlights judgement. Showing how black people were treated in the southern states of America throughout the 1930s. visualizing …show more content…
Scout and Jem are taught to ignore the bias opinions of society and view the trial through what they had learnt from Atticus, “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”. The time period is set through the depression when America stopped moving forward both socially and economically. This coming of age story includes this time period and illustrates the significance of this event in a difficult time. The trial teaches them to be mature and learn to understand what Atticus is trying to teach
Similar to Jem, Scout began to see the world differently as and after the trial took place. The Finch children began to comprehend reality and understand that people can be cruel and deceiving. While Jem began to mature and comprehend this after the trial ended, Scout showed the readers her maturity before the trial even began through her narration. Before the trial begins, the three children witness an argument between Atticus and the jury in front of the jail in chapter 15. At the beginning of chapter 16 on page 208 the text reads, “The full meaning of the night’s events hit me and I began crying.” To elaborate on this sentence that Scout narrates; at this point, after witnessing what she had that day in front of the jail, she realizes the risks that her father is facing for taking the job and ill-treatment that their society would give them for being connected to the black community and treating them equally. Finally, at the end of the book, Scout presents to the readers and viewers that she has found the understanding of ‘to kill a mockingbird’. In both medias of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout tells Atticus, “Yes sir, I understand,....Well it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” This shows that Scout truly understood what her father had taught her, she realized that evil existed in the world, and it showed how she has grown throughout the
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
To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on the experience of Scout and Jem as they share the turmoil of emotions faced by Atticus in the trial of Tom Robinson. They face contrasting mindsets taught by society and Atticus himself. Within this internal indecisiveness, Scout and Jem mature and learn important lessons from their father. The author, Harper Lee, explores the causes and consequences of the ignorance that influences bigotry and the knowledge needed to educate closed opinions.
The passages i have chose today for my coming of age essay was the court scene and the problems after the court scene because there were multiple parts in those 2 scenes where the kids could have possibly observed some experience for coming of age and i will explain every single detail and every little piece of information to show you how and what they observed to coming of age in the future.
Understanding someone can be very difficult. To be able to fully understand the person you have to be able to put yourself in their situation or as Atticus puts it: climb into someone else’s skin and walk around in it. Scout and Jem are growing up in Maycomb County, a town with many little injustices and faults. To understand the people in this town Scout and Jem follow Atticus’s advice and walk around in other people’s skin. At first they are not very good at it but at the end of the book they really start to understand how to do this.
After witnessing Tom's trial and the effects it had on Jem, Atticus consoles him by reminding him of an important valuable lesson. Atticus states. "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 36) As Scout overhears this, she begins to confront the complexities of human nature and the injustices of her society, it serves as a moment in her
“...If you can stand in Bob Ewells shoes a minute, I destroyed his last shred of credibility at that trial, if he had any to begin with. The man had to have some kind of comeback , his kind always does … He had to take it out on somebody… You understand?” The kids realized just because somebody did something to hurt you doesn’t mean you have to do something to hurt them. When you are hurt by somebody you should move on and just let it go which Atticus was trying to teach Jem and Scout.
As we enter the world, we are born with a “blank slate”, a mind consisting of zero experiences, no history, and no lessons learned. As the years go by, our judgments and experiences broaden, and we learn how to go through life and deal with society. This is something that occurs in every single individual, and the most important lessons occur in childhood and adolescence—where these monumental lessons will therefore pave the way for one’s perspective of life. These life lessons were a significant part of this novel, where the reader was able to grow and mature with Jam and Scout from the experiences that occurred in their lives. Therefore, in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee traces Scout and Jem growing up by having them lose
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
When a child so pure and innocent witnesses the most savage of events before her, she would have to spend the rest of her life facing the world’s harshest realities yearning for the innocence that she once felt during her childhood. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, it follows the coming of age of the narrator of the story, Scout, and her older brother, Jem, witnessing a wave of controversies on how people react to racism and prejudice. Whether it’s among races or social classes, angry altercations occur between both parties, and while some, more than others, retort to hostile acts. Atticus on the other hand, wants to put a stop to the intense aversion that has been going on in Maycomb for years, in concern for his town’s future.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is about two children, Jem and Scout, and their relationships with their father, Atticus. The children raise themselves growing up, many people would say they were irresponsible, but they are both appear to be intelligent individuals. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird the novel demonstrates a rigid class structure and social stratification in the County of Maycomb. People should not be judged by their social class, they should be judged on their personality.
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, a critically acclaimed coming of age novel, focuses on the life of Jean Louise (Scout) Finch and a sleepy town called Maycomb. Lee uses the book to explore multiple themes involving racism and coming of age. After a pivotal moment with Cecil Jacobs Scout undergoes a clear psychological change where she discovers that the world isn’t a perfect place where everyone is treated equally, the theme of the book.
Childhood is an important part of anyone’s life as they learn to cherish and remember. In the story, Jem and Scout Finch are two kids trapped in a racial society during a time of segregation and inequality. Living in a time like this was a difficult lifestyle, and especially at a young age. Atticus Finch, the wise father of the two children, is a fighting lawyer who defends an innocent man who happens to have dark skin. They had to grow up quickly and take the role of young adults in order to keep their family, town, and each other safe.
Shelby moody Schneider Pre IBDP English 9 January 12 2016 Coming of age This universal theme coming of age definition is socially, physically, or psychologically growing up. Coming of age is something that people understand and experience during their childhood. It is a universal theme because all cultures have experience coming of age in some form.
"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.