Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the prominent theme of loss of innocence reoccurs throughout the book in certain characters dialect and actions. Jem, Scout, and Boo Radley show the theme of loss of innocence many times through the book. Loss of innocence is an important theme and helps the reader understand what these characters are thinking. As shown in the book, Jem gets older and more mature through the book, and by doing that, he loses his innocence. Before the trial, Jem had a childlike perspective of the world and played like a normal kid would. He turns 12 in the book and tries to act older. He still is unaware of the social conformity in the world. He acts older and doesn’t play like he usually does. Although he acts older,

It is during the trial of Tom Robinson that he truly understands the malevolent world and its mindset. “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,’ he muttered…” (212). In this quote, Jem realizes the verdict and knows how wrong it was. He cries because he knows that Tom Robinson is innocent and so does the whole courtroom. He not only cries over the verdict, but over his childhood. Jem now understands the world and its prejudice. Jem also learns from Mrs. Dubose that she may not be what she appears to be. “‘I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand… She was the bravest person I ever knew’” (112). Jem understands from reading to Mrs. Dubose that he was helping her even though he

Scout tries to explain to her teacher that Walter can’t repay her due to his families situation, and although it is a good explanation, her teacher is offended. “‘That’s okay, ma’am, you’ll get to know all the county folks after a while. The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back—no church baskets and no scrip stamps’” (20). Scout doesn't understand the social classes yet, and does not understand why her teacher is mad at her. She loses innocence by understanding that their are different stereotypes of people. Also, Scout insults Walter by asking why he eats so funny, not realizing that she has insulted him. “Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He would probably have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing” (24). After Scut asked, Calpurnia became furious. Scout had insulted Walter’s eat habits, but she had not realized it. In her mind, she was asking a question out of curiosity. Scout hadn’t grasped the concept that certain may be okay to her, but not to other people. Scout lost her innocence by realizing that she had insulted him, and not just asked a question. Lastly, a few kids are making fun of Atticus for defending a black man, and Scout doesn’t see what is wrong with that. “He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers. I denied it, but told Jem” (74). Cecil