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Theme Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Told in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee conveys the idea of perspective through the many hardships that the characters go through. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a coming-of-age story that takes place in the mid 1930’s when the great depression is starting to hit. The story is told through our narrator Scout who is a little girl, who has a brother named Jem and their father, Atticus. Scout and Jem go through many significant events throughout their town of Maycomb, Alabama. In which most of these events are influenced by racism or even their prejudiced town. Through all of these events Scout and Jem learn to mature and learn about the harsh reality of their town. A central theme of this novel, To Kill …show more content…

For example, chapter 9 of To Kill a Mockingbird paints a theme of adolescents maturing as they continue to learn about life. To explain, the conflict between Scout and Uncle Jack leads Scout into a coming-of-age experience when she learns more about the perspective of other people. Scout experiences this when she tells Uncle Jack, “You ain’t fair, you ain’t fair”... “You gonna give me a chance to tell you? I don’t mean to sass you, I’m just tryin’ to tell you.” (Lee, 97) This reveals Scout’s coming-of-age from learning and understanding other people’s different perspectives and how they view things. After her experience with Uncle Jack, Scout realizes that people can view things even if they don’t have the full story of what happened. For instance when Uncle Jack had spanked Scout without hearing the whole story Scout learns that uncle Jack had only spanked her because he was mad at her for saying bad words when he had specifically told her not to. Because of this he had cut her off and didn’t listen to her side of the story. Because of this it had opened Scouts eyes in which she became more conscious of other people's perspectives. After her coming-of-age experience, Scout became more aware of other people’s point of …show more content…

For example, Jem grasps an understanding of the experiences and perspectives of Aurther Boo radley in Maycomb county. To explain, Jem begins to understand what it's like as an outsider and how he starts to empathize with Boo Radley when Jem said“ If there's just one kind of folk, why can't they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m Beginning to understand why Boo Radley stayed shut up in the house all this time. It’s because he wants to stay inside”(Lee, 259) This quotation demonstrates Jem’s growing empathy and understanding of the experiences of Boo Radley. Jem is starting to see things from Boo's perspective and is understanding why he wants to be hidden from the world. After his coming-of-age experience, Jem was able to gain a better understanding of the experiences and perspective of Aurther Boo

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In this book, Jem and Scout get attacked by a racist man named Bob Ewell, and then a man who has been watching the kids for a long time (Boo Radley) saves them. The book to kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee is told through the eyes of one of the main characters Scout, and she shows the hardships of living in that time when people were treated differently based on their appearance. They chose to write through a child’s eyes because kids can have many different experiences and aspects of life. The story is told through Scout’s eyes because she had a lot of traumatizing experiences in her childhood.

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As soon as our childhood starts, we start to discover the dark secrets that the world is hiding. Discovering and learning these buried understandings shape people into who they are based off of how they find out. From cheating in a game to racism and prejudice, they are all disarming happenings that occur daily. In To Kill a Mockingbird, characters and events that take place throughout the story aid in the loss of innocence with Jem and Scout, and mold them into the people they become. The general lesson Jem and scout learn by the end of the book is that: the world is in no way perfect, but is actually quite distraught.

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In Harper Lee’s classic novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, two characters change because of experiences they witness first hand. These characters, Scout and Jem, morally developed throughout the story by watching what happens with Tom Robinson’s trial, and by watching their father face the discrimination and hate because of the trial. Jem is a kind, young boy. He sees the world as a little kid would. Jem was bewildered when his dad, Atticus, shot and killed a dog in one shot.

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The major theme in To Kill a Mockingbird is the loss of innocence. Not only do Scout and Jem lose their innocence, but other characters do as well. Scout and Jem grow up throughout the book, as they are exposed to the realities of racism, hatred and child abuse. They witness racism in the Tom Robinson case when Mayella Ewell claims he took advantage of her, when it was really Bob Ewell that did it. The court voted Tom Robinson guilty because he was African American, and most of the town would have been furious if a white man was convicted over a black man.

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The concept of empathy is important to Scout’s and Jem’s and the County of Maycomb coming-of-age because they must learn that they cannot judge a person or fully understand one until they have showed some sort of empathy towards that person.

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Have you ever done something you regret, and wish you could fix it? To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a coming of age story about Scout and Jem, two kids living in a town infested with racism. Although the book was published in 1960, it emphasizes the absurd reality that people experienced during the great depression in 1930. Lee uses the elements of conflict, setting, and character in chapter 11 to display maturing as being the bigger person and learning to compromise to be successful in life. To begin, Lee makes it translucent that they have conflicts with Mrs. Dubose perpetually when they encounter each other.

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Think back to when you were little kid around 7 or so and you had no worries about life or anything. All you would think about is candy and toys and nothing about the world of adults. No worries of the weather or what the grown ups would talk about. Scout’s childhood innocence takes a turn from her care free days to the real world of racism and bad people. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout witnesses the trial of Tom Robinson and how racism is taught to her unknowingly from it.

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Odysseus is the main character of The Odyssey which is an epic by Homer. Odysseus can be portrayed as not heroic, but you could say he is an epic hero and he does possess all the qualities to be one. On Odysseus’ time away from home he travels over a vast setting and he is also a great warrior. Odysseus travels far and wide: “West from Ilium brought me to Ismarus(40,983)...

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During these events, In the beginning, the reader sees Scout and Jem’s childhood perspective on how everyone and everything is kind and loving. But as they grow older they lose their innocence after meeting

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Scout and her brother Jem learn a lot about racism by observing how white people treat black people so differently. They learn that everyone is going through very

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In “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, two children learn how to “walk in other people’s shoes”. As they grow up, they come to understand other people’s views and emotions by learning about the prejudices that Maycomb County possesses. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Jem’s character development demonstrates how understanding the prejudices of society can develop empathy.

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This shows Scout's growth in understanding others. Also, Scout's experiences with the trial of Tom Robinson help her realize the unfairness inside society. She watches how hate and racism seriously harm the lives of innocent people. She writes of the trial, "It was Jem's turn to cry.

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1138 Words | 5 Pages

Courage is not strength or skill, it’s simply standing up for what you believe in and what is right. This is the theme that was enrolled after Jem destroys Mrs.Dubose’s camellias and after she died in chapter 11. This passage also reveals Jem’s coming of age moment. After using conflict, symbolism, and point of view, Harper Lee was able to connect the theme with Jems coming of age moment.

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614 Words | 3 Pages

She didn 't fully understand what was going on therefore can 't comprehend the miscarriages of justice. As she can 't fully compose adult commentary, the novel was shown in innocence. One advantage of reading this novel from Scout 's point of view is when she experiences something for the first time, so does the reader. Such as when she goes to Cal 's church and experiences the bitterness some black members have towards white members in

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that takes place during the Great Depression in a small town located in southern Georgia in the 1930s. The book focuses on Jean Louise “Scout” and Jeremy Atticus “Jem” and their coming of age and the major events that made the two grow up. One of the events was the trial of the Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, in which their father, Atticus Finch, was defending Tom, a man of color. Mockingbirds are used throughout the book to represent people that were harmed by the society even though they were innocent. There is a common misinterpretation of the meaning behind the Mockingbird leading many to believe that Scout is the Mockingbird in the story.

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