Examples Of How Scout Mature In To Kill A Mockingbird

Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird shows that she matures throughout the novel when she sees things from Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley’s perspective and understands the racial discrimination in Maycomb County. In the beginning of the novel, Scout is naive and innocent, however she matures as she encounters different situations in Maycomb. Some may say Scout is still ingenuous by the end of the novel, but the maturity and awareness she gains proves otherwise. In the 1930s, when the novel takes place, the Great Depression had just begun and everyone struggled. Along with racial discrimination, Scout learns about the hardships of life as a child. With the help of Atticus Finch, her father, Scout learns many valuable life lessons

Scout learns about the prejudice the black community faces during Tom Robinson’s case. Tom is a black man accused of raping Mayella Ewell and is ultimately given a guilty verdict. After news spread of Atticus being Tom’s lawyer, people around town began calling the Finch family derogatory names. This led to Scout understanding that society doesn’t respect the black community or even treat them as equals. They believed that Tom was guilty even before the trial just because he was black. After the trial and Tom Robinson’s death, Scout realizes the level of racial injustice and hypocrisy in her town. It was obvious that Tom was not guilty and the Ewells were lying, but the jury caved into social pressure. If they said Tom was not guilty, it would go against everything they ever knew and believed so they probably decided it was best to stick with what they already know. The fact that blacks were lower than whites. It’s just as Atticus said, “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads-they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” (Lee 295). Atticus inspired Scout during the case because he tried his best to give Tom a fair trial and didn’t treat him differently for being black. Even though his children were targeted by the town as well,

This assumption is because she ran into a mob of men to help Atticus. During the Tom Robinson case, many townsmen tried to lynch Tom because he was a black male accused of raping a white woman. Atticus tried to protect Tom by sitting outside his cell, but the mob still came for blood. After following Atticus one night and seeing the men surrounding him, she tried to help him by running to his aid. She is considered naive because she believed she could talk her way out of danger. Scout proved otherwise because she was able to convince Mr. Cunningham to leave Tom alone. She took Atticus’s advice about it being “... the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in.” (205). By talking about how good of a boy Walter is, she was able to stop Mr. Cunningham from attacking them. This left an impact on him because he convinced a connection who was a jury in the trial to support Tom. She didn’t talk her way out of danger, but made the Cunninghams leave by being amiable even though they were going to lynch someone. Even if it was dangerous, Scout was able to use what Atticus taught her in real life