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Examples Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

1376 Words6 Pages

Allison Dossman
Honors English I 3rd
Mrs. Ward
10 April 2023
To Kill a Mockingbird: Loss of Innocence Childhood is meant to be like a warm and safe bubble meant to protect oblivious children from the difficulties of reality. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, is a classic novel that shows the life of Scout Finch, Jem, her brother, and Dill, a friend, through a portion of their childhood. The portrayal of three children’s lives reveals how the loss of innocence in their childhood was inevitable as it began fading away in the beginning of their childhood and was completely diminished within a few years.
Early on, Scout, Jem, and Dill were investigating an old story about a man named Boo, also known as Arthur Radley, and snuck up …show more content…

While this may not seem like a loss of innocence at first, Scout is being told that the way she grew up acting was completely incorrect and changes her outlook on her life. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born. . .” (Lee 93). Scout was used to acting as she pleased, but when Alexandra came, she completely flipped the house dynamic and put pressure on Scout to act differently. Because of this, Scout’s ignorance to the stereotypical gender roles is broken when she is told to conform to what is …show more content…

Ewell’s rage. Ewell created a second near death experience, but this interaction was more impactful since the children were actually injured. “We were nearly to the road when I felt Jem’s hand leave me, felt him jerk backwards to the ground. More scuffling, and there came a dull crunching sound and Jem screamed,” (Lee 301). In the quote, Mr. Ewell was attempting to kill Scout and Jem to get back at Atticus for making a fool of him in the trial. Scout and Jem are about to escape, but Jem’s arm is broken as he gets pulled back by Bob Ewell. Jem was fearing for his little sister’s life along with his own safety when he was incapacitated and knocked out, and Scout, not knowing where Jem was, felt terrified and later believed Jem might have died. Their innocence had slowly been degraded away with other events, but this was Scout and Jem’s final breaking point where all the safety and warmth from childhood was completely

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In the beginning of the novel, scout was stubborn. She wanted to wear breeches her whole life. However, later on, when aunt alexandra becomes part of her everyday life, scout begins to accept that lady’s wear dresses. Astonishing is the influence that a woman can have on another human being, that even a child has no choice but to change its ways.

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As she got older she had learned many lessons ther her everyday life. She began to act more grown up at the time of Aunt Alexandra's party. Scout forgot how much she despised her Aunt and how much she disliked dresses and she also, decided to joined the group of the women in their conversations. After Aunt Alexandra heard the news about Tom Robinson she was very upset, while Scout was very hurt. Scout noticed I didn’t much affect on her aunt.

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Jem and Scout have been attacked by Bob Ewell and has caused Jem to break his arm. Atticus asked Scout, “‘Scout, Mr.Ewell fell on his own knife. Can you possibly understand?’” Scout responded, “‘Well, it’d be like sorta shooting a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’” (Page 370).

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Though seeing what the people of Maycomb County could do to each other was terrifying. That staying out of the messes like Boo Radley isn’t as bad as it seems. However, when Scout and Jem were walking back home at night through the schoolyard Bob Ewell was following them to get a chance to kill the Finch kids. Furthermore, there was no one around to see the fight between Bob Ewell and the Finch kids (Lee 351). Despite this, a man was heard breathing heavily and staggering.

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533 Words | 3 Pages

All throughout this book Scout shows how strong she is, for her family, for her friends, and for herself. She acts likes its ok sometimes but, she just wants her family to be happy. “ Aunt Alexandra’s fingers trembled as she unwound the crushed fabric and wire from around me. “Are you all right darling?”

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They started to hear stuff move so Scout asked Jem- “are you afraid?” (300) but Scout had to say “no” (300) in order to calm Scout down. All of the sudden, Mr. Ewell pushed Scout to the ground and was going to kill them both because they supported black people. They got away thanks to Boo Radley who came out and killed Mr. Ewell to protect the kids.

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In the Southern Gothic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows how each character can be innocent through different moments throughout the novel. The story tells of a little girl named Scout, who meets new people and learns how to be mature with all of the challenges she faces. Throughout the novel, she grows older and realizes that trusting other peoples’ words can hurt her in the long run. In To Kill a Mockingbird, characters’ actions illustrate how people mature as they grow. Harper Lee teaches Scout innocence throughout the novel.

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Savannah Smith Mrs Rollins Honours English 9 09 March 2023 The Loss of Innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee’s historical fiction novel To Kill a Mockingbird follows a young girl by the name of Scout Finch as she navigates childhood alongside her older adolescent brother, Jem. The story takes place in a small town in southern Alabama called Maycomb during the Great Depression. Atticus, a lawyer and the children's father, is created by Lee to be both a role model and a teacher. Atticus highlights the importance of understanding a person by “stand[ing] in his shoes and walk[ing] around in them”(321) whilst encouraging level-headedness.

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Scout’s change in attitude displayed Harper Lee’s belief that empathy is about gaining understanding, and comes with maturity. After Tom Robinson’s trial, Scout’s character evolved past her original beliefs, which were based on prejudice and first impressions. Her newfound experience was apparent in her thoughts on the Cunninghams. When Aunt Alexandra prevented Scout from inviting Walter Cunningham, she assumed that “you can scrub Walter Cunningham until he shines” but “he—is—trash.” Scout challenged Alexandra’s scrutiny by “hold[ing] her off as long as [she] could” because “if they’re good folks, then why can’t I be nice…?”

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456 Words | 2 Pages

Instead of continuing to think negatively of Aunt Alexandra, Scout views her differently. Scout views people and things differently to prove that she is growing up and coming-of-age.

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703 Words | 3 Pages

He also thinks that everyone has good intentions and would never do anything to him. Many events “kill” Jem, but the main event is when Bob Ewell attacks him and Scout on their way home from the Halloween Pageant. When Jem and Scout are being attacked by Bob Ewell, the author writes, “More scuffling, and there came a dull crunching sound and Jem screamed.” (Lee 301) Bob Ewell badly hurts Jem.

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947 Words | 4 Pages

Both Jem and Scout had a startling knowledge that changed the way they treated other individuals. Both kids were practically killed by Mr. Ewell the night after the trail. Jem understood that Mr. Ewell was a fainthearted man, in light of the fact that keeping in mind the end goal to hurt their dad, Mr. Ewell needed to hit him in his feeble spot, his kids. Both kids understood that negative things that can leave positive things. Despite the fact that Atticus Finch spared Tom Robinson from being erroneously blamed for a wrongdoing, he likewise uncovered that Mr. Ewell beat his kids and was a dishonorable father.

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592 Words | 3 Pages

He again harms the Finch family when he assaults Jem and Scout on a pitch-black night. In the struggle Mr. Ewell breaks Jem’s arm, greatly bruises Scout and in the scuffle falls on his own knife and kills himself. As To Kill A Mockingbird shows injustice

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1099 Words | 5 Pages

Scout said, “"Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year...." (108). This quote illustrates how Scout pushes against gender stereotypes, and this is the root of conflicts between her and Aunt Alexandra.

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531 Words | 3 Pages

Scout was more of a tomboy than a girly girl. Aunt Alexandra didn’t like how she didn’t act like a proper lady, and would ask Scout to act more ladylike. As she grew up, she was able to understand things a lot better. She began acting more grown up in situations like Aunt Alexandra’s dinner party.

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