What Is The Theme Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

As we go through the different stages of life, it might not be easy for all of us, especially for Scout and Jem. Scout and Jem are abruptly woken up by the nightmare of reality from their dream of innocence. Throughout the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, it documents the moral growth of Jem and Scout as they gain a better understanding of the world. At the start of the book, Jem and Scout are innocent little kids the same as everyone else. Throughout the story, this innocence is being tested by different events for instance; the Tom Robinson Trial. At the end of the book, Scout and Jem realize the cruelty of the world and the effects of on different people for example, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. In the beginning, Scout and Jem

They see this through the Tom Robinson trial as well as the trip to Calpurnia’s church. They see that Calpurnia uses a different style of talking to the people of her church. This proves that Calpurnia has a different level of respect for the blacks and can speak more freely and comfortably with them. According to “He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers.” (77), Scout was called out by Cecil Jacobs because Atticus was defending Tom Robinson. Scout realizes that society is unusually racist and some people are not as privileged as others. This reflects back to the Tom Robinson Trial where the ample amount of proof from Atticus shows that Tom Robinson is faultless, but the verdict was still guilty because of his race. Scout and Jem witness the injustice in the trial and unfortunately realize that Maycomb is not the same as they once thought it was. Aside from this, they meet Mrs. Dubose, a rather cantankerous old woman. According to “But Mrs. Dubose held us: “Not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in the courthouse lawing for niggers!””(105), we know that Mrs. Dubose is the literal definition of Maycomb. She acts unsurprisingly identical to everyone else, acrimoniously reprimanding Atticus for defending Tom Robinson. However, at the end, Atticus instills in Scout and Jem that he admires Mrs. Dubose’s courage for which she uses to battle her morphine addiction. In the middle of the novel, we can see that Scout and Jem are going through moral development. They are tested by their environment, such as Cecil Jacobs and Mrs.