Watching a person grow up presents a rare opportunity to watch them change, physically and emotionally. As children, most people do not think things through and make rash decisions, but as they grow older they realize that they have to be more responsible. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee presents the reader with a rash and hot-headed little girl named Scout, who faces many hurdles. Throughout the novel Harper provides examples of Scout’s personality, and how she changes. Scout starts the novel off as a hot-headed child who then grows to be a responsible and caring young lady. When Scout is first introduced to the reader she is a rash and angry little girl. Many instances throughout the novel show how she sometimes acts purely on emotion. For example, “I leaped off the steps and ran down the catwalk. It was easy to collar Francis. I said take it …show more content…
She tries to care for Atticus, “Your stomach’s growling,” and “You better take some soda.”(112) She notices something is wrong with him and she suggests a fix for it. By trying to care for her father, and just noticing that something is not right, she shows how she has matured. Not only has she matured in that aspect, but she has learned to act like a lady when needed, as shown here, “After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.”(202). Scout has learned to be responsible, even when things that are unpleasant come into play, and how to at least act like a lady when need be. She has grown enough that she can be nice and courteous to a man she used to make fun of, like she does here, “Won’t you please have a seat, Mr. Arthur? This rocking-chair’s nice and comfortable.”(230) Mr. Arthur, also known as Boo, is a character Jem and Scout spent their childhood making fun of, however Scout has matured to the point where she is past that. By the end of the story Scout has proven herself to be a changed young
...heme of maturation in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is conveyed through the characters of Scout and Jem, in conjunction with the assistance of their virtuous father Atticus Finch. Early in the novel, Atticus ascertains himself as a major facilitator in the maturation process of Scout and Jem by incessantly providing mature solutions to his children’s predicaments. Moreover, Scout, a major benefactor of the Boo Radley incident and Atticus’ wisdom, has helped her develop into a very tolerant and mature individual. Undeniably, Jem’s remarkable development into a broadminded and compassionate character can be directly attributed to Atticus’ kindness and Jem’s exposure to the Tom Robinson trial. In synopsis, it is evident that the individuals and social circumstances that surround an individual play a major role in defining the type of individual one will become.
The first way Scout developed throughout the book was when she became less aggressive. In the beginning, Scout was aggressive when she beats up Walter Cunningham up on the playground on her first day of school. She beats Walter up because he got her in trouble with the teacher. Walter got Scout in trouble because when the teacher asked who had lunch, Walter didn’t raise his hand and when the teacher, Miss Caroline, tried to give
At such a young age, Scout still has a sort of innocence that any reader will find entertaining and emotional at times. There are many scenarios when Scout seems like just a little girl that we can’t help loving. One instance is when a mob of men gathers at the jailhouse where Atticus is guarding Tom Robinson. Scout and Jem sneak out of the house and they run up to Atticus while the men are still talking to him. Sometime during the whole confrontation, Scout recognizes one of the men and makes a personal connection with him. “ ‘Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment gettin’ along?’... He seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away. My friendly overture had fallen flat… ‘Don’t you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I’m Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one time, remember?’... Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about… ,when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was addressing the entire aggregation. The men were all looking at me, some had their mouths half-open,” (Lee, 153-154). Scout’s innocent but exciting personality shines through in every aspect of her life. She truly is a unique
Although she struggles at first, Scout develops a higher level of maturity which allows her to control her temper and simply defend her father with her words, without being rude. Jem is also faced with these type of situations and struggles with his anger, for instance when he attacks Mrs. Dubose’s flowers. Atticus goes to great lengths to teach his children that in life, they must learn to stay calm and be kind to everyone, despite how cruel those people may be. Scout and Jem face several situations in which their control is tested, which leads them to “come of age” and develop skills necessary for adulthood. They learn to defend Atticus and themselves by using words and developing self-control.
Have you ever put yourself in somebody else’s shoes? How did you feel? In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout finally realizes that people go through stuff and that it can affect someone physically and mentally. As she grows up mentally she figures out what she needs to be doing and what she doesn’t need to be doing. Scout grows up and she matures by her relationship with Boo, her family, and other female influences.
Change is something everyone goes through in life, whether it is for the better, or for the worse. Change can be a result of one’s personal behavior, and other times it is from one’s surroundings. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960), starts off with a young girl named Scout who is not your average lady. She wears breeches, and swears despite her young age. As Scout ages, her personality progresses and she starts to look through different perspectives, opening her eyes past Maycomb.This is only possible with the help of her family and her neighbors. She learns how to empathize with others, all the while dealing with struggles of her own. Scout’s young childhood atmosphere and role model’s make her depict on who she truly is, eventually
In ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ written by Harper Lee, there is a precise sense of maturity that is shown by Jem and Finch Scout as the novel progresses. Jem and Scout Finch start to mature considerably throughout the novel once they realize what horrid things adults are capable of, get their moral strengths tested and become familiar with distinguishing right from wrong. Shaping them into the young adults they are. Growing up can mean taking on many tasks and responsibilities, being able to distinguish right from wrong, just like Scout had done on her first day of grade one when she was asked to read in front of the class but came across as showing off. “I knew I had annoyed Miss Caroline, so I let well enough alone and stared out the window until recess when Jem cut me from the covey of first-graders in the schoolyard.
Scout first learns to show compassion and tolerance by refusing to go to school because she hates Miss Caroline. Atticus tells her that, 'First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it'; (30). When Atticus told her this, she began to accept Miss Caroline as well as other people's differences and opinions.
Many of the scouts learning experiences are in clearly insignificant scenes. Ultimately she must learn to respect the difference in behavior between vastly different people, especially when the behavior differs from the normal as radically as in the cases of Boo Radley, Mrs. Dubose, and the Cunninghams. So early in the novel, Scout in the novel, Scout is faced with some confusing experiences at school, where she confronts a teacher who doesn’t understand why she can read and where she meets Walter Cunningham. Later, Atticus explains to her that to judge a person, you must try to see things from that person’s point of view. You must learn to walk around in his skin.
At the beginning of the book, Scout was not a nice child. She had hard times controlling herself, and usually she was not able to. She knew Atticus wouldn't like it if he heard of her fighting, but still she fought a lot, like the time she got angry to Cecil Jacobs and fought him (pg. 99). She was also mean and rude, which can easily be seen as she got angry and protested it when Walter poured syrup all over his dinner (pg. 32). As she was young, she also was not able to look at things from other people's perspective. This could easily be seen in her first day of school, as she only saw things from her point of view, never caring about her teacher's perspective (pg. 26). Her youth also ...
When Scout goes to the courtroom to hear Atticus speak and fight for Tom’s freedom, she realizes that Atticus is trying his hardest to defend an innocent man. Finally, Scout grows through her interest in school by learning about Hitler and the horrible historical events that have happened in the world. Her maturity is expressed by what she has learned about the world around her and can apply those things to her everyday life. Moreover, Scout has matured greatly in the novel and she has learned many lessons about life, family, and womanhood.
As a child grows, many people influence their development as a person. Some people impact more than others, and a select few really leave their mark. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” several characters play this role. Among them, Miss Maudie Atkinson, a woman who proves herself a strong character, prevails as the one who has the greatest impact on Scout Finch, the protagonist of this novel. As Scout matures and grows up, her views on the world around her change. Through subtle yet effective ways, Miss Maudie teaches Scout many life lessons about being humble, judging, and attitude, all of which ultimately have a great effect on the kind of person Scout develops into and her outlook on the world.
As a growing young girl, Scout was learning and experiencing things just like any other child would though growing up. She got older and was able to understand things a lot better as well as being able to apply lessons she had learned in her everyday life. She began to act slightly more grown up in situations such as Aunt Alexandria's dinner party. Scout forgot how much she despised her Aunt and how much she disliked dresses and joined the group of women in their conversations. Despite how she didn't want to "act more like a lady", she played along with her Aunt's "campaign to teach me (Scout) to be a lady" made an exception to please her Aunt and to create some peace between them. Upon hearing the news of Tom's death she concludes "if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I." This shows how Scout was beginning to act more ladylike for her Aunt.
The last reason why Scout has changed is because she’s losing her innocence. In the beginning of “To Kill A Mockingbird” Scout didn’t know what was right or wrong and didn’t know what was happening around her. She didn’t get why the town folks didn’t like the colored people. Scout didn’t know what was acceptable to say and what wasn’t. But now that Scouts older she’s beginning to realize why the town folks don’t like the colored folks even though she doesn’t agree with them and also she’s realizing what’s acceptable to say to
She is always allowing herself to learn something new and to mature at a fast rate or at least intend to. Scout learns many lessons throughout the novel. The crucial lesson taught by Atticus helps her in the novel, that is: you’ll never understand until you’re in their shoes. “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view….until you climb into his skin and wak around in it.” (Lee 45). Scout learns this lesson by understanding Boo’s perspective. When Scout finds out that the men surrounding her father wanted to hurt him, “ Atticus said nothing. I looked around and up to Mr. Cunningham, whose face was equally impassive. Then he did a peculiar thinng. He squatted down and took me by both shoulders. “I’ll tell him you said hey, little lady.”” (Lee 206). She took it upon herself to go up to Mr. Cunningham and to start an innocent, friendly and mature conversation with him. He was reminded that he was neighbors and friends with Atticus. The final event is Scout was confused as to why her teacher, Miss. Gates, was a hypocrite, “ Nome, Miss Gates, it sayshere− well anyway, old Adolf Hitler has been after the Jews and puttin’ ‘em in prisons and he’s taking away all the property and he wont let any of ‘em out of the country and he’s washin’ all the feeble-minded and-“ (Lee 327). She’s a hypocrite when it comes to her hate towards Hitler and his hate towards jews, but she has the