Causes Of Tom Robinson Trial In To Kill A Mockingbird

Mia Ruan #14230

Mrs. Willshire

English 9, Period 5

17 February 2023

Scout began as a young, playful, and innocent girl who was then pushed to fit into societal expectations and go through harsh events such as the Tom Robinson trial which caused her to have the need to blend into Maycomb society and learn to live maturely. Harper Lee in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird through the character of Scout shows how growing up in a problematic community and having to go through rough events at a young age causes children to grow up too fast and lose the innocence of their childhood. Scout is initially reckless, a tomboy, emotionally driven, and spends most of her time playing with boys which to most of the people in Maycomb is not normal behavior

The consequences of taking the trial become really visible in this part of the book and even come onto Jem and Scout because when she goes to spend Christmas with her family it is constantly commented on and she is then later pushed by her cousin Francis to get into a fight. After the altercation with her cousin, she is wrongfully blamed for the incident and later when explaining what happened to her uncle Scout says, “Well in the first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it-you just lit right into me”(97). This is the first time that Scout applies this lesson that Atticus gave her in the beginning and it benefits her much more than her fighting ever did. Even though she got into an altercation, this incident shows her learning because she is able to calmly express her emotions and point of view. During the trial when they get to Tom’s testimony the prosecutor is treating Tom with no respect Scout notices that “Dill had started crying and could notcouldn’t stop; quietly at first, his sobs were heard by several people in the balcony. Jem said if I didn't go with him he’d make me”(225). Scout has to deal with

During the Missionary tea party Scout finds out how the “ladylike” women of Maycomb actually behave and she thinks, “there was no doubt about it, I must soon enter this world, where on its surface fragrant ladies rocked slowly, fanned gently, and drank cool water. But I was more at home in my father’s world. People like Mr. Heck Tate did not trap you with innocent questions to make fun of you”(266-267). Now being a part of it Scout is able to get insight into the fakeness of maycomb’s people when they don’t hold back their criticism or rudeness. She is critical of it because it is different than what she is used to with her father, Jem, and Dill but then realizes that she will have to become one of them. A last example of Scout’s newfound maturity is after the attack when Boo asks her to walk him home, when she returns him home she lingers on the porch and thinks about how “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough”(321). This is the moment when Scout is finally able to see the full picture of the point of view lesson Atticus gave her at the beginning of the book. She shows her maturity by giving the person she once most feared