¨Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it; we had given him nothing and it made me sad (pg. 373) In this section of Harper Lee's novel, To KIll a Mockingbird the theme coming of age is portrayed in many different ways, particularly in the passage of chapter 31. For example, in the above quote, Scout comprehends that you should always give back to those who give to you.. Throughout the book many small themes are shown, but they all reveal a much larger one; coming of age. Harper Lee uses character, conflict, and setting to teach Scout not to judge, that you need to stand in someone else's shoes in order to understand them, and to portray how much Scout has grown. First of all, in this passage Harper Lee uses the literary element of character to show Scout that not everybody is justifiable, and to reveal the theme coming of age when she discovers the truth about Boo Radley. In chapter 31, Scout proves that she has matured by showing that she will not judge Boo because of his past. Also she will not treat him differently because of it, instead Scout offers him her arm and treats him like the gentleman he is. On page 373 Scout confirms this by saying, ¨She would …show more content…
Scout also learns not to judge someone without knowing what it’s like to be them, and showing how much Scout has matured. Throughout the novel Scout grows and develops into a lovely young lady who has a strong point of view and is clearly coming of age. Something that we can all take away from this passage is that we must experience hardships and get through multiple obstacles before we are able to come age, just as Scout