Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Innocence: the lack of experience with the world and with the bad things that happen in life. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, innocence is something that has to be lost in order to make room for compassion to grow. To Kill a Mockingbird follows a young girl, Scout, as she faces many life experiences that help shape her childhood. In the beginning of the novel, Scout continuously bothered a man named Arthur “Boo” Radley. Boo Radley never came out of his house, or had any social interaction with other members of the community. At first, this really confused Scout, and ultimately led to many late night plots to try and make Boo Radley come out. However, when Scout began school, she worried less about Boo Radley. As she progressed

While talking to Atticus, Scout outlines the past couple of years chasing Boo, and how she finally got to know the true Boo: “‘An’ they chased him ’n’ never could catch him ’cause they didn’t know what he looked like an’ Atticus when they finally saw him why he hadn’t done any of those things… Atticus he was real nice’” (Lee 376). Once Scout got to know Boo for his true character, she realizes that the last three years of chasing Boo was a waste of time. In addition, Scout now understands why Boo stayed at home all the time, because now she has dabbled into the reality of life instead of the fantasy of childhood. She becomes conscious of the fact that just because Boo did not follow society's norms, that did not make him an evil person. While standing on the porch of the Radley house, everything clicks for Scout as she gains empathy for Boo. “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (Lee 374). Throughout the novel, Atticus always said “you can’t really understand a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them,” this motif comes full circle when Scout truly empathizes with Boo. Scout plays the events of the past three years in her head, and realizes that in these years many events have occurred such as the fire, the Tom Robinson case, and the incident with Mr. Ewell that helped shape Scout into a mature into a young lady. However, standing on the Radley porch Scout is able to look at these events from Boo’s perspective, and truly empathize with Boo. Once Scout learned more about the world around her, she built the foundation for compassion and