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Scout's Maturation In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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As people, we all develop and change as we age, and Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" brilliantly captures this process. Scout Finch develops from a young girl who has faith in the goodness of others to a young lady who starts to recognize the harsh and unfair truths of life. I will examine Scout's maturation process in this essay. As the narrative progresses, Scout shows incredible growth as she learns to put others' viewpoints above her own. I believe this ultimately helps Scout develop her intellectual abilities, respect for others, social awareness, and emotional intelligence. Scout develops socially as she becomes aware of the prejudice around her and learns how to assess situations, make decisions, and …show more content…

She shown emotional maturity throughout the narrative, for instance, when she gave up on fighting Cecil Jacobs. Scout is a little girl with an extremely short fuse who would pick a fight with anyone who irritated her. Scout, on the other hand, claims that when Atticus was being criticized by Cecil, "I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and went away, 'Scout's a cow-ward!' ringing in my ears. It was the first time I had ever left a fight unfinished. I felt as though I would let Atticus down if I challenged Cecil. This shows great maturity on Scout's part because she doesn't want to let her father down and understands that it's better to ignore the criticism than to react rashly and argue as she usually would. As a result of Tom Robinson's conviction, Scout also gains empathy as she comes to understand that Maycomb's economic differences were only the cause of his conviction. She feels sympathy for the black people denied equal rights to those enjoyed by white people . This gets me to my final argument because Scout feels bad for Mayella even though she testified against Tom. Mayella feels insulted when Atticus asks her about her friends and calls her "ma'am" during her testimony. Scout puts herself in Mayella's shoes and understands that she is the way she is because she probably has never seen …show more content…

Throughout the story, Scout actively seeks out information from her father, who also instills in her morality and a sense of conscience. The lesson to put oneself in another's shoes before passing judgment on them is the most known illustration of this. The reason I bring this up again is because following this advise not only helps her evolve socially, but also intellectually, since her manner of thinking improves as a result of her increased awareness. When Scouts was able to put herself in the shoes of Walter Cunningham Sr. and appeal to his humanity, it was the most significant demonstration of her intellectual maturity. Don't you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? she asks him. Jean Louise Finch here. Remember the day you brought us some hickory nuts early in the morning? We discussed. My dad came out to say thank you after I went and grabbed him. Your son and I attend the same school. Walter is a wonderful lad; we attend the same school. Will you please say hello to him for me? Entailments are harmful, Mr. Cunningham, you know that. As she says this, Scout demonstrates impressive intellectual development because she is trying to make Walter feel bad for threatening Atticus, the guy who helped him pay for his legal issues in exchange for crops. She reaffirmed Atticus' assistance and friendship for Walter and requested that he greet his son

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Walter is then invited to the Finch household to eat, where Scout shows immaturity by shaming him about the way that he eats. Scout, as a young naive child, does not yet understand that just because people are different it does not mean that they should be shamed or ridiculed. Scout's use of violence against Walter also shows her immaturity as she resorts to petty fights as a way to get back at people instead of choosing to talk it out or be more mature about the situation. Although Scout may show signs of immaturity and childish behavior, she can prove that she can be mature. For example, as she was about to get into a fight with a boy that was taunting her about her dad, Scout states, “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away, ‘Scout’s a cow—ward!’

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Scout learns the ugly truth about how a trial really works in there time period. In particular Atticus states “In our court, when it’s a white man 's word against a black men’s the white mens always wins. ”(251-252). This shows that Scout is exposed to more of how racism is ugly and unfair and Atticus makes it clear to Jem and Scout that racism exists. Scout handled the results of the trail calmer than jem (304).

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A mature character would not pick a fight or label people based on their money; however, by the end of the novel, Scout sees that these things are wrong. She begins to see that all people are equal and should be treated the same. The reader sees Scout growing up through her change in actions, speech, and morals. First,

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The structure of the book shows the shaping of the Scout’s character of innocent behavior to maturity. Scout develops her empathy and maturity throughout the book by the reflection of other characters and occurring events.

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Atticus recognizes that although Scout is just a child, she is an astute one. After Jem questions that Walter Cunningham is still a friend Atticus explained, “ So it took an eight-year-old to bring ‘em to their senses, didn’t it?... You children last night made Walter Cunningham stand in my shoes a minute. That was enough” (Lee 157). Scout was wary of her father and interfered despite her not understanding the situation, she uttered three simple words, “entailments are bad”.

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