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End Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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The novel To Kill a Mockingbird shows many prominent themes such as the end of innocence. Throughout the theme which pertains to real life, during the time it was written and even to today, the novel goes through the life of Scout, the narrator, a little girl that lives in Maycomb, Alabama. The theme of end of innocence is expressed by the extended Finch family's opinions, the community's opinions on Atticus defending Tom Robinson, and how Jem perceives the Tom Robinson court case. The extended Finch family is an enormous negative influence on the characters Jem and Scouts' lives. The family has a truly diverse opinion on how the children should be raised compared to how Atticus is raising them. A supporting piece of evidence from the novel …show more content…

He’s ruinin‘ the family, that’s what he’s doin’”. (Lee, 94) Their cousin Francis says all of this to Scout, with the intent of provoking her, which led to Scout beating Francis up in the honor of Atticus, which just gave the family more of a reason to look down on how Scout and Jem are growing up. What Francis said gave Scout the first look at how Atticus’s decisions are affecting the kids and making them grow up faster than they needed to be. Another example of the extended family affecting the Finches' lives is when Aunt Alexandra moves in. With the influence of Aunt Alexandra, you can see how Atticus changes from being a person of reason and listening to the kids, to trying to listen to his sister's advice on how to raise them. Aunt Alexandra's main goal in raising the children is that she wants Scout to grow up quickly, and act more ladylike, and stop being a boisterous child. Jem and Scout's classmates and fellow townspeople's opinions affect their innocence, as they are being unfairly criticized. An outside source states, “The town of Maycomb, whose inhabitants have been presented thus far in a largely positive light, suddenly turns against the Finches, as the ugly, racist underbelly of Southern life exposes itself”

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