Literary Elements In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee uses literary elements to help develop the theme of maturing and growing up in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Lee does this by using female figures in Scout's life Calpurnia, Miss Caroline Fisher, and Miss Maudie to shape Scout's early childhood as a woman.
Scout’s mother died of a heart attack, and Lee writes “I did not miss her, but I think Jem did.” this shows that Scout did not have a mother in her life to remember, so she was taught mainly by Atticus, Calpurnia, and Jem. Calpurnia acted as a mother figure for Scout, teaching her how to read and write and also discipline when it comes to Scout and her behavior and how to mind her manners. Lee writes, “Calpurnia was to blame for this. It kept me from driving her crazy on rainy days, I guess. She would set me a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a

If I reproduced her penmanship satisfactorily, she rewarded me with an open-faced sandwich of bread and butter and sugar.” This part of the text shows Calpurnia as a mother figure and a teacher, and a crucial part of Scout's growth and maturing. Miss Caroline's role is to teach Scout to adapt and transform into society, that when you are in school you are Jean Louis and at home Scout. Something else that shows her coming of age is being disciplined in front of the class for being outspoken and knowing how to read. You see her growth when she continues to read and write (with help from Atticus “If you’ll concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night just as we always have. Is it a bargain?”). Miss Maudie is a motherly figure to Scout and Jem by providing them with pastries and a playing space as long as they don't touch her flowers. And when Jim and Dill were playing she went and sat with Miss Mauldie, and she learned not to believe everything you hear and not to repeat it like a mockingbird, “That is a sad house. I