The Universal Loss of Innocence
As children, we are often protected from the outside world, as we should be. As a human race, we have the instinct to protect our young and keep them from any kind of harm that could pose a threat. Such young ears or eyes shouldn’t be exposed to something as harsh and cruel as the society we live in both today or 60 years ago. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, you see the same concept exercised in the small town of Maycomb with Jem, Scout, and Dill. As honest and open as Atticus is, he knows when something should be bent to a more positive idea or when to not inform them of something, but as they age throughout the story, the blatantly obvious cruelties of the world get harder and harder to mask or filter out. One thing that is very apparent is the racism in that day and age and especially in that town where you see the children starting to realize and cope with it, but not being able to fully understand it. The same idea is still used world-wide and is almost an oath to the youth to protect them until they're ready for the truth, but you can't hide it forever.
The first example of this would be when in chapter nine when narrates, “[Cecil Jacobs] made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s
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Jem reacts, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd.. ‘It ain’t right, Atticus,’ said Jem” Jem knows what is right and he knows that the verdict should have been not guilty. He is crushed by the fact that skin color is the driving reason that Tom Robinson’s life will never be the same and eventually gets shot. This goes back to my original claim that even though Atticus doesn't necessarily want the kids to know about the trial and the verdict, he understands that he can’t always protect them from the times they live