A coming of age story is a story about a child’s life and growing up. To kill a mockingbird is a coming of age story that explores the themes of racism and family. The main character, Scout, goes from being seven to ten years old and goes from being a child to a lady. The story takes place during the 1930’s when being racist wasn’t frowned upon. Scout has a small, supportive family whereas other families in the story are not as supportive. In the beginning of the book Scout started out as being seven years old. The book takes Scout from being seven to being ten. During that time, Scout expanded her interests from looking for Boo Radley to caring about the community and everything that is going on in it. Scout’s aunt, Alexandra, turned her into a lady by making her dress up and teaching her the ways of being a woman. Scout would sit with her aunt and all the ladies in the community and listen to them gossip. In this way, Scout learns more about the community and everything that is going on in it as well …show more content…
In the 1930’s it was acceptable to discriminate against people of different ethnicities. They even discriminated in the court system. In court people didn’t believe what the black man said. Because of discrimination, black people lived in poverty because they couldn’t get an education and had little resources. Some of the families, like the Ewell’s, lived in poverty. Living in poverty drove Bob Ewell to drink. The Ewell family had seven children and were uneducated. In the story, the Ewell family took Tom Robinson to court for assault and rape of their daughter. The Jury found Tom Robinson guilty but he was actually innocent. Tom Robertson only had one hand and all of the battering was on the right side of her face, so it had to have been someone who led with his left hand. Bob Ewell was left handed so it was likely that it was him that actually assaulted his
The award winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee includes several key components that are exemplary passages of coming-of-age scenes. One of the most significant scenes throughout the whole book is the courtroom scene that describes the trial of Tom Robinson, who has been accused of rape by Mayella Ewell. The outcome of the trial was creating a coming-of-age scene for several characters, including Jem Finch, Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, and Dill Harris. In this scene, it is seen that in defense of Tom, Atticus Finch uses ethical, logical, and emotional stances in order to find Tom innocent and continue to fight for justice by being impartial and having no judgement unlike society. Although a strong defense was presented, society still
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
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee includes many coming of age moments. For example, I chose the part where Scout walks Boo home. Scout is the narrator of the book and Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley accompanies her in this scene. This is a coming of age example because near the end, Scout talks about how she felt she’d already learned what she needed to be an adult. Today I’ll be talking about literary elements in this passage.
Since the first spark of human life, coming-of-age has even occurred at the time of Adam and Eve. Many people think that the only part of maturing is puberty. However, one of the greatest parts of growing up is not, surprisingly, going through puberty. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives.
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.
The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee includes many key coming-of-age scenes. The story, which takes place in segregated Alabama in the 1930s, follows Scout's journey from innocence to understanding, as she goes through many life-changing experiences in the town of Maycomb. Through a series of coming-of-age scenes, Lee depicts Scout's transformation from a curious and stubborn tomboy to a compassionate and empathetic young woman. These scenes eventually lead to Scout's development, challenging her original views, and exposing her to the cruel realities of prejudice. Of the many coming-of-age scenes, one of the most important realizations that Scout had was the hypocrisy of the people in Maycomb.
As Stephen King once said, “The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” In the book "To Kill a Mockingbird", by Harper Lee, Jean Louise Finch, a young girl who also goes by Scout, experiences many things such as racism, friends, and family. Her father, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer who is sacrificing his reputation to defend a black man, Tom Robinson. Scout and her friends take it upon themselves to uncover the mystery of Boo Radley. In this book the mockingbirds represent innocence. Many characters take on the role of the “mockingbird". Exploring Lee’s title, to kill a mockingbird is to kill innocence.
When we are five, we go to the park and play and scrap up our knees. When we are six, we enter school for the first time, making a few lasting friendships, while learning to be kind and honest, and coloring in the lines. Now after the years of trial and error, we are successfully becoming young adults matured to understand the day to day complexities of our social and academic life. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird beautifully describes how maturation is influenced by everyday lives, and the few resonating events which stay with oneself forever .The
“Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win.” (Lee 101) In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, a black man named Tom Robinson is being accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. White man, Atticus Finch, was given Tom Robinson’s case and was determined to fight for Tom’s innocence. Even if fighting for Mr. Robinson meant putting his children Jem and Scout in danger, he would still be teaching them right from wrong.
Walt Disney once said, “You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway”. These words describe the clear coming of age and how there are diverse audiences to take into consideration when making a large judgement. Relating to the novel, Scout is experiencing a coming of age moment while learning to deal with different types of people and accepting the fact they will have their own way of thinking. After Scout experiences a bad first day of school she makes the decision to not go to school anymore, however Atticus teaches her that she should not let one person’s view on something put her down, that they might be raised differently that her, and that she should still respect their differences.
Overtime, ones approach towards the way they handle certain things change and they developed a more mature personality. Maturity can be shown in many ways. One way is being willing to learn from your past mistakes and make better decisions for the future. In Harper Lee’s
Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters develop and mature in unique ways. Boo, who fears talking to others, Aunt Alexandra, who is against people of other races or social classes, and Scout, who is young and is not aware of life’s challenges, constantly suppress their emotions and personality. Their life choices and decisions that they make throughout the book, lead them to be more accepting of others and less prejudice. As the book progresses, Boo, Aunt Alexandra, and Scout learn life lessons and develop into mature adults.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, was written in 1960’s based upon themes from 1930’s about racist and prejudice people. This relevant novel, despite its age still is associated with the English curriculum in contemporary Australian schools.
Coming of age is an influential part of many people’s lives. They begin to leave behind their innocent childhood views and develop a more realistic view on the world around them as they step forward into adulthood. (Need to add transition) Many authors have a coming of age theme in their books; specifically, Harper Lee portrays a coming of age theme in his book To Kill A Mockingbird. Through the journeys of their childhoods, Jem and Scout lose their innocence while experiencing their coming of age moment, making them realize how unfair Maycomb really is.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is one of the main characters and the narrator. During the time the book begins, she is a little 6 year-old girl who is mature for her age, and she continues to mature as the book progresses. Over the course of the novel, Scout develops an exceptional character which is constantly changing from the effects of different events and characters. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee uses the minor characters Boo Radley, Miss Maudie, and Aunt Alexandra to help develop Scout into a strong and compassionate human being from the innocent child she used to be.