Examples Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

Maturing in a Divided Society

Life lessons in coming of age experiences are important as they shape an individual’s beliefs, values, and character, and prepare them for challenges of adulthood. In Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem learn many life lessons as they come of age through their experiences and interactions with people around them. They do so in Macomb County, a small town in Alabama, that is burdened by social and racial prejudices. Scout and Jem are forced to learn the harsh realities of the world and how to address it through various life lessons. Scout and Jem learn the crucial life lessons of empathy and understanding, the reality of injustice and prejudice in society, and the notion that people are not

While Scout is reading Mr. Underwood's editorial she finally understands that, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (275-276). Prejudice is very difficult to overcome, and what Scout realizes is that there is nothing that her father, a very talented lawyer, can do to help a black man who is suspected of a crime. The mere fact that society was prejudiced against black men to begin with, is the verdict. Tom was guilty not because he committed a crime; Tom’s crime was that he was black. When Uncle Jack teaches Scout and Jem how to shoot an air rifle, Atticus tells the kids, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (103).The point is that mockingbirds do nothing to harm society or the people that they interact with, so because they have no bad intentions they are effectively innocent. The author is trying to convey that mockingbirds are like people - everyone deserves to be treated the same unless they actually do something wrong like the bluejays. After hearing Atticus say “it's a sin to kill a mockingbird” Miss Maudie responds, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (103). This quote continues the thought above that mockingbirds deserve respect because they are innocent. They do not cause trouble. In much the same way as people deserve to be treated with respect, even if they are black, if they have done nothing wrong. Social justice in the larger sense requires that people are all treated the same way, unless there is a