“Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it” (James Arthur Baldwin). This quote perfectly reflects on the issue of loss of innocence, as did the author of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, who was able to examine this as well as the growth of character within the protagonist of the novel: Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. There are several characters who help change Scout’s thinking, such as her father, Atticus Finch, her family’s maid, Calpurnia, and her friend, Maudie Atkinson. It can be reasoned that the journey from innocence to understanding for Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, is guided by the lessons taught to her by the closest people in her life.
As the father of Scout, Atticus Finch’s placement in her life allows
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First and foremost, when Scout blurts out a rude comment about Walter Cunningham Jr. as they are eating lunch, Calpurnia lectures Scout on proper manners. She states, “Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp'ny, and don't you let me catch you remarkin' on their ways like you was so high and mighty! Yo' folks might be better'n the Cunninghams but it don't count for nothin' the way you're disgracin' 'em” (27). As Scout does not know the concept of prejudice, she makes the comment against Walter without a second thought. However, Calpurnia’s furious lecture towards her treatment of Walter Cunningham helps Scout in realizing how she should treat everyone equally. Calpurnia also shows Scout the difference between the white and black community in Maycomb, specifically after Scout and Jem accompany Calpurnia at her church when she explains to them why she speaks differently in church than at home. “Suppose you and Scout talked colored-folks' talk at home it'd be out of place, wouldn't it” (139). Scout learns the big differences in the black community from the white community, and how the two are so different; they even change the personality of Calpurnia herself. Thirdly, Calpurnia’s motherly influence on Scout also helps her in learning how to be a lady, which is shown when Scout spends time with Calpurnia as Jem chooses not to. Scout narrates, “Calpurnia would do until Dill came. She seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl” (116). As Scout is raised with many males in her life, she does not understand what the significance of being a proper lady is. Calpurnia’s presence as one of the only female figures in her