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Examples Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

506 Words3 Pages

Alvina Dennis, Boles
Childlike Innocence
Reading a novel that shows the true essence of an innocent child's perspective leaves the audience to decipher its true meaning when the innocence fades away. If we view our society in an innocent manner it shields us from the dangers of racism, prejudice, and hypocrisy, unforgettably popular topics in the early 1930s. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a MockingBird, the audience perceives a childlike innocence portrayed by Jem, but later that innocence is “killed”, after a falsified sexual assault case that left an innocent man to his death. Jem is growing up in the town of Maycomb with his younger sister Scout and his father Atticus. Jem is shown to be naive, adventurous, and courageous- all childlike …show more content…

The reader can see just how immature Jem is when he says turtles can’t feel anything, losing his pants in the Radley yard, and cutting the tops of Mrs. Dubose's camellias. After talking with Dill, “‘How do you know a match [won’t] hurt him?’" asks Dill. "Turtles can't feel, stupid," replies Jem.”(Lee 15). Further in the novel Jem tells Scout not to crush a bug because it didn’t do anything to harm her, proving he was acting immature. But that's not the only thing that proves this. Since Jem grew up in Maycomb, he’s no stranger to the Boo Radley house, consequently Jem repeatedly doesn’t listen to Atticus when he is told to stay away from the Arther Radley house, “... when we sensed that Jem was not with us. We ran back and found him struggling in the fence, kicking his pants off to get loose. He ran back to the oak tree in his shorts”. (Lee 60). This isn’t the only instance Jem has been impetuous. After being provoked by Mrs. Dubose's menacing comments, “ We had just come up to her gate when Jem snatched my baton and ran flailing wildly up the steps into Mrs. Dubose's front yard, forgetting everything that atticus had said,…He did not to calm down until he had cut the tops off every camellia bush Mrs. Dubose owned…”(Lee 118). This shows Jem acting impulsively because he doesn't stop to

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