Examples Of Immaturity In To Kill A Mockingbird

Camila Careaga - Herrera

Ms. Newcomb

English 2H/Period 6

February 10, 2023

“We don’t mature through age; we mature in awareness”- Byron Katie. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the readers can perceive how children, such as Scout Finch, evolve as they grow up and experience parts of the natural world. Throughout the novel, Scout was able to show bildungsroman as she learns to see things through other's perspectives and learns more about her community through the trial. At the beginning of the novel, we can see Scout's innocence and immaturity as a young child, but also her matureness. Examples of this can be seen with Scout's prejudice against the Cunninghams, or to be exact, Walter Cunningham. It was stated in the

Walter is then invited to the Finch household to eat, where Scout shows immaturity by shaming him about the way that he eats. Scout, as a young naive child, does not yet understand that just because people are different it does not mean that they should be shamed or ridiculed. Scout's use of violence against Walter also shows her immaturity as she resorts to petty fights as a way to get back at people instead of choosing to talk it out or be more mature about the situation. Although Scout may show signs of immaturity and childish behavior, she can prove that she can be mature. For example, as she was about to get into a fight with a boy that was taunting her about her dad, Scout states, “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, ‘Scout’s a cow—ward!’ ringing in my ears. It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight. Somehow, if I fought Cecil I would let Atticus down. Atticus so rarely asked Jem and me to do something for him, I could take being called a coward for him. I felt extremely noble for having remembered, and remained noble for three weeks” (76-77). For the first time in her life, Scout stood down from a fight and decided that it

As Scout watches Mayella Ewell's testimony, she concludes that “...Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years. When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her…Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her. But she said he took advantage of her, and when she stood up she looked at him as if he were dirt beneath her feet” (191-192). Scout observes how defensive Mayella is and pities her because of the loneliness she must feel, but she also understands the wrong that the Ewell girl had done. She betrayed Tom Robinson's kindness, one of the only people that was decent to her and treated her like a human being, and instead now views him as trash and dirt. Scout also realizes that Mayella's loneliness stems from the idea that she does not fit in and is not accepted in either the black community or the white community. After the trial is over, Scout's perspective on her town and community also change. She tells Jem, “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates… I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ’em a lesson, they were gettin‘ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is