To Kill A Mockingbird Essay

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, conveys that education can not only be learned in a classroom but also out in the world. The book proves the point that the lessons Scout learns affect her by transforming her into a more empathetic, just, kind, and mature person. The novel develops these ideas by demonstrating how Scout is unable to learn from school, learns best through the lessons that her father and real-world experiences teach her, and the way the lessons that she learns from Atticus and other outside sources influence her.
Scout has a difficult time learning valuable lessons at school. Scout struggles to get an education in school because she has very high expectations of what it will be like. When Scout first hears that

When Scout comes home after her awful first day of school and complains about her teacher getting frustrated with her, Atticus teaches her that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (39). Instead of being upset about it, Atticus tells her that she should think about how her teacher must feel after having to deal with a class of rowdy children. By being kind and understanding, Atticus teaches her to think about others, an important lesson that influences Scout for the rest of her life. An additional idea that Scout retains, this time through real-world experience, is when she learns about prejudice from Tom Robinson’s trial. Atticus is hired to defend Tom Robinson, a young black man, in court against rape charges. Even though the court case shows firm evidence that Tom Robinson is not culpable, he is found guilty because of his race. Atticus serves as a role model to Scout because, during the trial, he did his best to stand up for what is right, which teaches her that she should do so herself. The events that occur at the trial also make Scout understand more about prejudice against black people and hypocrisy. At school, her teacher, Miss Gates talks about how unjust it is that Hitler is sending Jewish people to concentration camps. However, at the trial, Miss

The skill she absorbs from Atticus, seeing things from others’ points of view, makes her more empathetic. After Boo Radley saves Scout from Bob Ewell, he asks if she can walk him home. Scout agrees and walks him through the house, but when they get out on the street, she has him take her arm so that he will look like a gentleman. Scout shows how empathetic she has become when she puts her old fears of Boo aside by walking him home because she knows she would not want to walk alone in the dark. Scout also shows compassion by having him take her arm so that if the town gossip were to see them, all she would see is Boo being a gentleman. Scout does not appreciate being gossiped about, but she does not want Boo to have to deal with any more rumors about him, either. When Scout learns about prejudice against the black people in her town and how to stand up for what is right at the trial, it makes her more mature and just. Her brother, Jem, is very upset when they find Tom Robinson guilty and is entirely flabbergasted. However, Scout seems to internalize the fact that many of the townspeople are racist and that, as she notices when she reads the paper, “Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (323). The realization that racism and injustice run rampant in her society makes her more mature because it shows her just how cruel