Examples Of Maturing In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Maturing. The definition of maturing is “to become more developed mentally and emotionally and behave in a responsible way”. Maturing is shown constantly in To Kill a Mockingbird through the protagonist Scout when she grows an understanding of people and their emotions. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout uses her experiences to show maturation in her character. Atticus shares his advice with Scout after a conflict with her teacher. Scout has had a hard day at school and complains but Atticus gives her important advice, “If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view. Until you climb into his skin and walk …show more content…

So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him”(Lee, 65). Scout is putting herself in Jem’s shoes and that allows her to understand Jem isn’t feeling normal after that night in Radley Place. Scout has gotten into a fight with her cousin which Scout is then punished for without sharing her reasoning, “You’re real nice, Uncle Jack, an’ I reckon I love you even after what you did, but you don’t understand children much” (Lee, 97). Scout puts herself in Uncle Jack's shoes and understands why he did what he did and teaches him about understanding children. Scouts looking through the perspective of others is not the only thing that can be applied by Atticus’s …show more content…

Scout puts herself in Mayella’s perspective and feels empathy towards the fact Mayella might feel uncomfortable in court since she has probably not been treated that politely coming from a low-class family. Scout has accompanied Boo home and thinks about his emotions, “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, 321). Scout thinks from Boo Radley’s perspective and sees how he truly cared for her and Jem showing in the end how far she had gotten with Atticus’s advice by changing her view of Boo Radley. Scout has demonstrated significant growth in her maturity and understanding of others since the first time she applied Atticus’s