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Examples Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

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A coming of age story is one that follows the main character in their journey from a child to an adult. You can see this genre of literature displayed in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The protagonist of the story Jean Louise Finch(“Scout”) makes strides from immaturity to maturity. While doing so she learns life lessons despite the development of the protagonists being met with hardships. Some of the things Scout experiences in small Maycomb County, Alabama is personal insults, racism in the town, and unfairness in the justice system. Over the three year time period in To Kill a Mockingbird Scout comes of age.
At the start of the book, Scout is just beginning school. She is was not like the typical girl at the time of the …show more content…

Atticus took on the case of Tom Robinson a black man accused of raping a white woman. At this time period in history there was a lot of racial tensions and discrimination especially in the majority racists town of Maycomb. Plenty of people didn’t like the fact that Atticus was defending Tom Robinson so in Chapter 11 when Scout wonders why he is he responds with “This case, Tom Robinson’s case, is something that goes to the essence of a man’s conscience-Scout, I couldn’t go to church and worship God if i didn’t try to help that man.” (139). Scout is able to recognize the prejudice in her town and also be able to not follow their ways. Scout is also coming of age with the things she’s forced to hear racists vulgar terms and speech, she asks Atticus what a nigger lover means because she hears it from people in the community when they are talking about Atticus. Atticus is able to answer her back by saying "nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything—like snot-nose. It’s hard to explain—ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves.” So Scout learns what this term means but she also had learned to face the reality of the negative opinions and feelings the people in Maycomb against black

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943 Words | 4 Pages

Some people isn’t as bad as they seem “You shouldn't judge people by what chapter you walk in on.” In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee shows or tells the story of scout and Jem Finch growing up in a small southern town called Maycomb. In this book the protagonist Scout goes through many of coming of ages experiences. Some of the important scenes where Scout matures up is on her first day of school, walking from a fight, and encountering Boo Radley or Aurther Radley.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

This affects Scout because she feels it’s an insult being said about her father. One of the most important parts of the story and racism is the Tom Robinson trial. In the story Scout asks, “Why do you defend n******s?” Atticus responds saying he has to or he wouldn’t feel like a good person. This affects Tom Robinson because even Atticus’s kids question why Tom Robinson deserves to be defended.

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1875 Words | 8 Pages

Atticus... what exactly is a ni**er lover”(Lee 112). From her age and the way she asked the question, it is clear that she had no malicious intentions behind the question and was merely a curious child. Another instance of Scout’s naivety is when she broke up the group of men in front of the prison about to lynch Tom Robinson. Scout, not knowing what the men were planning, openly calls out one particular man, shaming the entire crowd back. “The men were all looking at me, some had their mouths half-open.”

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646 Words | 3 Pages

Scout when her classmates are making fun of Atticus for defending a black man , and Jem when he believed Nathan Radley when he cemented the tree because it was “ill”. Scout hears her classmates saying terrible things about Atticus because he's defending a black man, but she doesn't see the wrong in what her father is doing. Atticus explains to her that it's not really a bad thing, but some people see it that way. Scout is too young to understand prejudice and injustice. Atticus tries to preserve this innocence by raising her to believe that there is nothing wrong with defending a black man.

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728 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem and Scouts changing perspective of Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley represents a coming of age moment because it demonstrates a breaking away from the childlike imagination that had previously explained all of their questions and superstitions about the Radley’s. A coming-of-age moment is the transition of thinking that occurs when someone learns empathy. At the start of the novel, in many situations, Scout and Jem demonstrate childish behavior and thinking when Jem is taunted into touching the side of the Radley home by Scout and Dill. The book reads, “Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us” (18). From this portion of the novel we can tell that Jem and Scout clearly regarded the Radley home and its occupants with novelty and even fear.

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1008 Words | 5 Pages

Atticus tried to explain about the name calling. “Scout,” said Atticus, “nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything like snot-nose. It’s hard to explain.. Ignorant, trashy people use it when they think somebody’s favoring Negroes over and above themselves. It’s slipped into usage with some people like ourselves, when they want a common, ugly term to label somebody.”

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528 Words | 3 Pages

Scout was raised a different way than other children in the 1930’s. She doesn’t think defending an African American man was terrible when Atticus takes on the job of defending an African American. Scout sees nothing wrong with defending Negros, as Scout states “Don’t all Lawyers defend Negros’ (Lee 100). Scout thinks all Lawyers defend Negros, in her mind there is nothing wrong and she wasn’t raised to disrespect or treat Negros a certain way.

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765 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus thought it was terrible that Tom Robinson wasn’t treated equal to the white people and was not very happy when Tom was found guilty. Atticus also tries to teach Scout how to be empathetic with her teacher Miss Cunningham. In this situation Atticus gives the true definition of empathy when he stells Scout, “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” (39). He wanted Scout to understand why Miss Cunningham behaved the way she did, and in order to do that, it was important to see things from her point of view and be empathetic.

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1138 Words | 5 Pages

Courage is not strength or skill, it’s simply standing up for what you believe in and what is right. This is the theme that was enrolled after Jem destroys Mrs.Dubose’s camellias and after she died in chapter 11. This passage also reveals Jem’s coming of age moment. After using conflict, symbolism, and point of view, Harper Lee was able to connect the theme with Jems coming of age moment.

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916 Words | 4 Pages

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. This saying is true in many cases and happens to be true in To Kill A Mockingbird. Throughout the book you see children of characters start to grow up and act like their father. This essay will be looking at three families in To Kill A Mockingbird, the Finches, the Cunninghams, and the Ewells. These three families are key examples that a father’s influence has a significant influence on the character of his children.

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860 Words | 4 Pages

People of the town including children refer to black people as “Niggers”, and raised to think of black people as lower class individuals. “To Kill A Mockingbird” has a strong message towards racism, this is learned from Scout & Jem as they mature throughout the novel and are constantly being exposed to demeaning segregation in Maycomb County. In giving Scout a lesson about racism, Atticus also does the same for the readers of the novel. This happens when Scout asks Atticus what the term ‘Nigger-lover” meant, after being insulted several of times and not knowing if it is an offensive word or not, but had a slight feeling it was when Atticus was being called at. A quote from the novel: "nigger-lover is

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1062 Words | 5 Pages

What is coming of age? Coming of age is a process in which an individual goes through a certain event and gains new insights that allow them to mature. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, they are many events where coming of age is revealed in the main characters. The coming of age is revealed through the author’s choice of various literary elements. One place where coming of age is shown is when Atticus tells Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, Aunt Alexandra and Scout that Tom Robinson had died, while Aunt Alexandra was having her missionary society’s meeting.

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552 Words | 3 Pages

Harper Lees, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a coming of age story where many life lessons are learned such as looking at things from other peoples perspective. In the beginning of the story, Scout is only able to see people from her point of view. Throughout the rest of the story, Atticus helps Scout grow from a young child to become more mature, from experience if not in age. When Scout has trouble with her new teacher Mrs. Caroline, Atticus suggests that she should look at things from other peoples perspective in order to better get along with them.

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1246 Words | 5 Pages

The 1930's was one of the most despicable times in American history, and as a father in this era you could do one of two things: Allow your children to fall into the stereotypes accepted by society, or teach them to think for themselves. Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, has chosen to raise his children by the former, and the benefits of this can be seen in the character of his kids. Atticus raises his children in the most judgmental time of American history by leading with his actions and teaching his children proper moral lessons about the world and people. Atticus, in this time period, had to do the right thing while the rest of the world was doing the wrong thing.

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794 Words | 4 Pages

Growing Up in Maycomb Growing up is part of life. Whether you realize it or not with age comes knowledge and with knowledge comes maturity. For Scout losing her innocence is inevitable. From dealing with bad teachers, going to an old lady's house everyday for month, to seeing a man be wrongfully accused of rape, to realizing you’re childhood villain is your guardian angle.

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