To Kill A Mockingbird Maturity

“Your Branches can only go high if your roots go deep.”-Brian Logue. Everyones journey to maturity is different, as human beings we are affected and changed by experiences we encounter and the people we meet. As a kid we take everything at face value, we speak what we think and we see the innocence and good in all. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the theme of growing up is illustrated by the dynamic characters Jem and Scout’s different, but growing levels of maturity. We follow these characters as they experience and deal with many heavy hearted issues first handed.

As brother and sister, Jem and Scout go through alot together. However, most of these moments are experienced differently for each individual. In the beginning

One night, before the trial of Tom Robinson, Mr.Underwood and Atticus are guarding the county jail for the night. Jem decided they should check on Atticus so he woke up Dill and Scout and they walked to the other end of the square. “Don’t go to him,” he said “he might not like it. He’s all right, let’s go home. I just wanted to see where he was.”(171). Jem knows that they were not supposed to be there and was conscientious when it came to confronting their father. As he is speaking a caravan of four cars pulls up and men piled out to face Atticus. After a few minutes of watching the “Unfunny situation”(172), Scout jumps up and runs to her father. This only creates more tension. Scout in a desperate, childish effort to lighten the mood began talking to the only familiar face in sight, Mr. Walter Cunningham. Scout at the time did not see the severity and the intenseness of the situation in front of her. All she sees is her father and a couple of men talking.While Jem on the other hand did. However, he wanted to stay too because he can tell his father is in a dangerous situation and he thinks he can help. This shows he considers himself one of the adults, and much more mature than his little

He is raising his children in a modern way than what is traditionally used in the setting of the story. He treats his kids as adults and tries his best to honestly answer any questions they have. Atticus raises his kids through conversations and by example, he is the voice of wisdom within the story, especially when it come to his kids. “Scout’s got to learn to keep her head and learn soon, with what 's in store for her these next few months. She is coming along though. Jem is getting older and she follows his example a good bit now. All she needs in assistance sometimes.”(99) Atticus is always there for both kids. He is observant and constantly knows what they may need. He accepts their flaws and embraces them by acknowledging their presence. The biggest thing Atticus did for his kids was letting them be their own person with own ideas. “Well, all I can say is, when you and Jem are grown, maybe you’ll look back on this with some compassion and some feeling that I didn’t let you down.”(120) Atticus did not take what everyone is saying to heart, instead he let their words roll off his back. Jem and Scout have not yet learned to do so bt with continued support from Atticus, this goal will easily be reached. Jem and Scouts different, but parallel paths to maturity demonstrate the theme of growing up in