When you are younger, you are innocent and believe that the world is good and no harm can come to you or the people you know. That is false. The world is a cruel place where innocence is something that can be taken away easily through bad deeds and the witnessing of them. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the book takes place in Maycomb County, a town where racial injustice and poverty exist. The main characters are Scout and Jem, both of which are fairly innocent to the world. When their father decides to take a court case about a black man who raped a white woman, they are exposed to the true nature of people. The loss of innocence is one of the central themes in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. As the book progresses …show more content…
They try to escape but Jem’s arm gets broken and he is unconscious for the rest of the novel. Luckily, they are rescued by Boo Radley and are taken home where Jem gets treated. Bob Ewell figured that attacking Atticus’s children was the next best thing to hurting him, since he was too much of a coward to do it directly. He had a grudge against Atticus for doing a good job of defending a black man, which was unthinkable given the status of black people during that time period. Through this, Scout learns firsthand about hatred. The experience with Bob Ewell also causes her to learn that innocence and youth are no protection against the evils of the world. If Scout were to be exposed to this in the beginning of the book, she wouldn’t have an understanding of what is going on. When she would find out Boo Radley brought her brother home, she would’ve been terrified of him like earlier in the book. Through these examples, Harper Lee shows that it is required for a child to lose their innocence when going through life, as it is part of their development as a person. She demonstrates this theme by showing how much Jem and Scout have changed over the book. They start off with a lot of innocence and some knowledge of the outside world, but as these events occur in Maycomb County, both Jem and Scout become more and more aware. Through these examples, Harper Lee shows that it is required for a child to lose their innocence when going through life, as it is part of their development as a