Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Growth is unavoidable. It is something that happens to all of us, however, many people dislike it for the reason that we have to give up our innocence and experience the real world with new eyes. We see the characters change a lot in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, through the events surrounding the story. In the beginning, Scout and Jem are innocent, young kids who’s biggest fear is the scary neighbor next door, Boo Radley. After Scout’s dad, Atticus, accepts the task of defending Tom Robinson in a rape trial, Scout begins to see the world a bit differently. She starts to realize how unfair the world can be, through experiencing racism, class differences, and death.

At the beginning of the book, Scout is oblivious of how awful the world can be. Later on, however, she starts to realize how much racism is in the world. This is shown in the many times people in the town insult Atticus for defending Tom, such as when Scout’s cousin Francis yells at her, “He’s nothin’ but a nigger-lover!”(Lee 110). This is really surprising to the reader, coming from the mouth of a kid, and indroduces the racism of the town in an abrupt way. This is just about the beginning of Scout starting to grow in her view of the world, as she begins to learn how people

She already knows that some families aren’t as prosperous as others, and this is first shown when she says, “Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham”(Lee 26). This divides people like the Finches from others like the Ewells from the beginning, and the divide is more and more obvious later in the book. As she grows, the difference starts to mean more than not having a lunch at school. It turns into Mrs. Robinson no longer being able to support her family, and Aunt Alexandra not letting Scout play with Walter because of the class difference. She is appalled by this restriction, based on nothing more than your class