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Essay On Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Rough Draft #2 The fight against the soul and the mind often leads to misery. The struggle between holding onto childhood while becoming an adult can ruin someone in their most vulnerable time. Being raised in a corrupt world leads to a complete loss of innocence as shown through the tone and imagery of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As a twelve year old, Jem Finch begins to see how crooked the justice system, he begins to “cry” and his face is “streaked with angry tears” because his father’s client, an innocent man, is charged guilty of rape merely because he is black (Lee 284). He is not mature enough yet to handle what he has come to realize about the world and how unfair and corrupt it is. Jem states that “we oughtta” get rid of “juries” (Lee 294). Jem tries to pull childhood logic into the real world, thinking that if juries are gone the whole problem is solved, even though it is not as simple as it seems. He learns too much about the world as he is still young and it is tearing him from his childhood. …show more content…

She knows she is “far too old and too big” to be fighting with the other children, but claims that they make her forget (Lee 99). Scout believes that there is “one kind of folks. Folks” (Lee 304). She is physically and mentally maturing, but not enough to know that in the grown world there are different types of people. She is still seeing the world through a child’s eyes where all people are the same no matter what they are doing or what they look like. Scout is being ripped from her childhood knowledge by being placed in an environment that has no problem making it clear that they don’t see eye to eye with

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Scout is maturing throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. At first, she did not grasp the concept of racism, and she acted like a young child. She thought that violence was the answer to everything, beating up Walter Cunningham when she gets in trouble on his behalf, and kicks Dill when she believes that he is not paying enough attention to her. She was also very short-tempered, getting angry when something went wrong. Atticus later explains to her that violence is not the answer and asks her to stop hurting people.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Jem grows from a little boy to an intelligent young man. Throughout the book, he discerns many things that shape his personality. As Jem grows, he learns how bad society is and that not everyone is perfect. Fortunately for Jem, this ends up helping him and he finds out that Atticus is a hero and that he should look up to Atticus. Through Atticus and the trial, Jem loses his innocence by learning about prejudice, bravery, and that the justice system is crippled.

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(Lee 33). She treats her friend as a lesser simply because of what family he comes from. Scout has never gotten to know this child yet she already has a strong knowledge of how she thinks they should be

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After this verdict Jem’s point of view on the world shifts, and Jem is slowly realizing that racism lives in the hearts of people in Maycomb. When Jem heard the word guilty he gives up a little bit of his innocent childhood because he is starting to notice how racist people are. When Atticus walks out of the courthouse to meet up with Jem and Scout, Jem is in total disbelief of what the verdict because he thought that evidence could win a case alone, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face streaked with angry tears as we made our way through a cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right’ he muttered all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting.

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Scout is beginning to mature throughout this book by humanizing people. Scout will ask questions when she doesn’t understand something. She has been listening to her father when he tells her someone is wrong. She is finally understanding the concept her father taught her In order to get around somebody you have to get around their own skin. In chapter nine Scout wanted to get into a fight because Cecil had used the N word which is an offensive slur and was saying stuff about her father.

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Jem was lost in society throughout this part of the novel, yet towards the end of the novel he had learned more to understand his community. At the

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Many children have adults in their lives who influence the way they turn out in the future. These people can affect the children in negative or positive ways. Scout learns the importance of respect from Calpurnia, the ways of the world, how to live life to the fullest, and walking in someone else’s shoes to understand them throughout the entirety of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee truly portrays Scout ’s coming of age by using the character’s Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Atticus as very important role models in Scout’s life.

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“25% of American children will confront at least one traumatic event before reaching the age of 16”(nctsn.org). In Harper’s Lee timeless classic “To Kill a Mockingbird” the theme of innocence lost resonates deeply, echoing the truth that once innocence is relinquished, it can never truly be regained. Through the lens of Scout, the reader is exposed to the intricacies of the effects that the loss of innocence has had on varying characters in the novel. The story takes place in Maycomb County, a place where innocence and fragility is a poignant topic, and is approached and written by the author from many different perspectives. From the onset, the perspective that dominates the novel is from Scout, and the reader is able to experience first hand

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As the daughter of a lawyer, Scout is depicted as intelligent, competitive and gullible to believing that there is goodness in everyone. The moment she starts to analyze life from someone else’s eyes she begins to differentiate between good and bad. This is described as a turning point for the novel, “you never really understand a person, until you climb inside their skin and walk around in it” (Lee, 36). Consequently, the moment she began to think about what life is really about, she was able to empathize with others. In modern day, most people do not take the time to consider other peoples lives and their situations.

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When in a situation that can be interpreted in many ways, Scout has difficulty deciding how she feels about it. She must decide if she is looking at it as a child, or as an adult.

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However, Scout's behavior can be considered reasonable due to the fact that she lives in a town filled with evilness and racism. Scout, an innocent girl trying to understand the perspective of other people's actions. Through her father's footsteps, she soon comes to the realization the world wasn't what she thought it was. Growing up in a racist community she is determined to seek for only the truth. Observing and questioning every move she manages to understand everyone's actions setting aside the evilness that comes with them, but much better appreciating the little good things they have to offer.

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“If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. 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, chapter 3,). This quote reveals, to place yourself in their shoes and see things how they see it. It is revealing Scout’s coming of age moment because she is learning to put herself in someone else's position and try to understand

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She doesn’t realize it at the time, but she ends up potentially saving Tom Robinson’s life. When Scout first steps into the middle of the mob, she thinks she is dealing with Atticus’ friends. She quickly realizes this wasn’t the case, but instead of running away, she takes the risk and continues to converse with the one man she was somewhat familiar with, because she believes that “there’s just one kind of folks.” Atticus later acknowledges Scout, and how “it took an eight year old child to bring ‘em to their senses.” (210)

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Remember the days spent dancing with imaginary friends, tea parties with stuffed animals who could talk, then going to bed with the boogie man under the bed? The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about Jem and Scouts journey through their youth as they work to deal with tough subjects such as rape, racism, and the realization that the world is not how they once viewed it. Throughout the story, Lee demonstrates the loss of childhood innocence, which shows that one's true perspective of the world is obtained through maturity. To begin with, all children experience innocence in their youth, but as they grow up, their understanding of the real world betters.

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664 Words | 3 Pages

Scout has a somewhat complex personality. She is caring yet rude at times, compassionate yet rough. She sticks up for her family’s and her own pride. Although, when people make remarks regarding her family, she doesn’t always handle it the right way. Scout likes to take out her anger and stand up to people with her fists instead of her head.

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