Analysis Of Childhood In To Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee

What could make children grow up so fast and grow into adulthood? Could it be the interactions or experiences children have? At first, it seemed like this could be just the answer, but now in the 21st century it is something else. In the historical fiction novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee described two characters, Jem and Scout, that went from not knowing the truth about their surrounding community, to being more mature after watching a trial about a african american being accused of raping a white women. Children are taught adulthood from innocent childhood by adult guidance, books and magazines, and social media. Adult guidance can be either given too early, too late, or just around the time children are ready for the information or subject. Scout 's innocence allowed her to glide right over

After the jury convicted Tom Robinson as guilty, Jem has a hard time understanding what was going on and he says,“It’s like being a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is.” (Lee 288). Children are sheltered from the real world and protected from all the terrible things and pressure themselves to learn more to understand what was going on in the world around them. Until one day they aren’t and they are exposed to all of it almost all information at one time. A way children are shown all at once is magazines and books. According to the nytimes magazine, “...it isn’t exactly a new departure to tell children stories about death and disaster, rape, and prostitution.”. Authors such as Judy Blume, Norma Klein, and several others have been writing stories about harsh subjects, which many children are now discovering earlier than parents would like them to. As younger generations read these magazines and stories, unregulated, they are learning about the troubles and activities reserved for adults earlier