Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Innocence Lost: The Cost of Growing Up A person’s childhood is one of the most important stages of their life. Children come into this world innocently unaware of the struggles they will someday face. As they grow, this innocence begins to fade. They begin to see aspects of life and human nature that they may have been previously shielded from. Sometimes, the events that bring this maturity can be sudden and traumatic. Such incidents are a shock to a child’s system, as such massive paradigm shifts can be difficult to process. The way one deals with such a shock is unique to every individual.The loss of innocence is an unfortunate inevitability in everyone’s life, but as evidenced by the children in To Kill a Mockingbird, how one accepts and moves on from this loss determines how they will grow. One of the first examples of this is Jem. Jem is the oldest of the children and as such feels the weight of several incidents more than the others. The events that impact him the most are the trial and ultimate death of Tom Robinson. Before the trial begins and throughout the proceedings, Jem is confident in the outcome of the case. He believes that the jury will be able to set aside their prejudice and look at the case objectively. Ultimately we see his lack of understanding about both human nature and the power

There is not a day where they suddenly wake up with a new understanding of the world. Rather they gradually, almost imperceptibly see a shift in their views. Only many years later can they look back and point to the events that were so influential in their growth. In essence, this is what To Kill a Mockingbird is. The book begins with an older Scout looking back on the events of the trial because they were extremely influential in her growth and maturity. The way she narrates the story as well as the way she begins it indicates Scout has come to a place of understanding and acceptance over these