In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout is an ordinary tom girl in a small town in the south. In the beginning of the book Scout goes from being immature, curious , and innocent to understanding and mature. Not knowing much because of her young age she is faced with the tough reality of the real world and is forced to grow up. Throughout the book Scout changes by increasing her maturity due to the dramatic events that occur during her youth. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the school yard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop.” (pg.30) This shows how Scout wasn't afraid to show her feelings through actions. She still isn't mature enough to resolve her problems without physically hurting someone. Another way scout shows her immaturity is when she starts judging the way Walter eats and Calpurnia has to tell her that not everyone has the same lifestyle as them. “ There’s some …show more content…
folks who don’t eat like us, “ (pg. 32) …. “ He ain't company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham-” (pg.33). Scout doesn't understand why Walter eats like he does in the story. She's never been hungry the way he is so she doesn't know the feeling Walter gets when he sees food. Her ignorance is shown because she thinks her family is better than theirs just because they don’t go through the struggle that Walter goes through. Scout shows in increase in maturity when Dill is revealing how he feels unwanted with his family.
It led to her being more appreciative of her family. “ … what would i do if Atticus did not feel the necessity of my presence, help and advice. Why, he couldn’t get along a day without me. Even Calpurnia couldn’t get along unless I was there. They needed me.” (pg.191). She then realizes that her family truly loves her even though they don’t always agree with her actions. Scout begins to change whenever Atticus begins defending Tom Robinson with his case on raping Mayella Ewell. This begins to affect their family negatively because it is not usual for a white man to defend an African American. Scout is also maturing when she notices Jem growing. “ ...I wondered if it would ever look like a man’s…” (pg.301).” He was growing taller.” (pg.301). Scout notices that Jem isn’t how he use to be. He’s growing in size and maturing just like her. She knows that their relationship will not how it use to be- playful and
childish. After the trial Scout is mature enough to hang with Alexandria and her friends, “ ‘ Stay with us Jean Louise,’ This was part of her campaign to teach me to be lady.” (pg.307). Scout and her aunt have a closer relationship due to the events the happened during the trial. Scout finally sees a different perspective with her.” She took her handkerchief from her belt and wiped her nose... ‘ Do i show it ?’”(pg.317). She saw how Alexandria kept her act together in front of others even through all the hardships. It showed Scout that Alexandria doesn’t just care about the appearances and materialistic things, she also has true feelings and emotions. Scout shows she has grown when she is asked in class what democracy is, “ ‘ Equal rights for all, special privileges for none, ‘“ (pg.328). Scout learned this from the observation she had with the Tom Robinson trial. He was not treated equally because of his skin color. That was one one harsh reality she learned from her town- even though you may be innocent in the town of Maycomb it doesn’t matter because the white man will always win. A major change scout had in this novel was the way she viewed Boo Radley. At first she believed Jem’s description of him as a “‘six-and-a-half feet tall...teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.’” (pg.16). As years pass her fear of Boo Radley decrease and then they completely change after he saves her and she notices that she was completely wrong about him. She saw him as a hero and realized that throughout the years Boo Radley was watching them the whole time. “ Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch...chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives.” (pg.373). Scout realizes that Boo never meant any harm to them. His reasons for always staying in the house was probably to stay away from the real world problems. At the end of the novel scout says “ I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn’t much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra.” (pg. 374). This quote shows that she learned a lot through those hard two years of her life and there isn’t anything more that could happen that would be worse. Scout had a dramatic change throughout this novel, without the events that occurred she wouldn’t have grown as a person in a short period of time. I believe these events helped her learn more about herself and more about the people in her life.
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch tries to please her father, but living with no mother it’s hard to know how to act. It’s natural to follow Jem, her brother, when that is her only friend through out the years. Imagine hearing gossip about your father from friends, neighbors, and even your own cousin. Scout had to push through all of the gossip and believe in her father. Throughout the novel Scout shows how social she can be. To Kill a Mockingbird is a great novel that keeps you reading. Scout has a positive effect on events such as at the jail, she was the reason that the mob left. She also always curious so she is more mature than most kids her age. Through the journey of the trial she shows how hot-tempered, tomboyish, and mature she can be.
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 ...
Everyone goes through different changes as they grow up. Maturing, coming of age, and doing the right thing are important themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird. This theme is most often seen in the character Jeremy “Jem” Finch. He portrays this theme when he begins to enter puberty and becomes a young man. Jeremy starts to become more independent, wiser and more able to comprehend adult situations; Jem begins to get a better grasp on things. Other characters that demonstrate this theme are Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, and Arthur “Boo” Radley. Harper Lee shows how Scout comes of age in similar ways to Jem. Scout begins to grow up and become more tolerant of others by “putting herself in another person’s skin”. Boo displays his “coming of age” in a somewhat different way than Jem and Scout. There’s a scene in To Kill A Mockingbird where Boo has the chance to do the right thing by putting himself in harm’s way in order to save lives, and he takes the chance. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book that is overflowing with the theme “coming of age” (whether it is shown through the main character or others). This theme is important to the story because these characters are a small example of the changes that Maycomb needs to undergo. Jeremy Finch is the character in which this theme is most represented in.
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
To Kill A Mockingbird The Maturing of Jem Finch Society is not as innocent to a child as it may appear to be. In fact, when one really understands the society in which he lives he is no longer a child. This is much the same case as found in To Kill A Mockingbird, by Leigh Harper. Although Jem, being a child at the beginning of the novel, is immature and unaware of the society in which he lives, he matures mentally to the point where he sees the evil in society and gains a knowledge of death. Like most children, at the beginning of To Kill A Mockingbird Jem and Scout are both young, play together, and have childhood monsters or fears like other children.
Most girls that grew up in the time that Scout did would be wearing dresses and acting in a more feminine manner. Some of this can be credited due to Atticus’s hands-off parenting style, he doesn’t push Scout towards stereotypical gender roles. Scout seems to represent a very early and mild form of feminism in the south. When problems arise in the book she often questions or examines them as a personal responsibility and seeks a resolution. This is a key difference because in feminism ethics, men often view something right or wrong instead of seeking a resolution. Scout’s moral development is probably a blend of feminism and Atticus’s ethics of virtue (Solomon, 323-325). As morally developed as she is at such a young age, Scout doesn’t always grasp basic social etiquette (she tells her teacher that one of the students is too poor to pay for lunch). Human behavior can confuse her, this is especially true in the case of race and racism. She is
Scout Finch is the main character of To Kill A Mockingbird. Throughout the story, Scout will learn courage and kindness, and doing what is right. When the book begins, Scout is only 6 years old, and still has a lot to learn. She is a kind person and wants to make Atticus proud, but she has a lot of growing up to do.
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.
...st 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 every day life. Moreover, Scout has matured greatly in the novel and she has learned many lessons about life, family, and womanhood.
Scout is the narrator of the whole book. She is the young daughter of a lawyer, Atticus. They live in Maycomb County with Scout's brother and Aunt in the 1930's. At the beginning of the book, she doesn’t know much about the prejudice of Southern America. She basically knows nothing about prejudice. She thinks every person is the same as her. But she finds that out at last. She also finally finds out that most people are nice. She just has to put herself in those people's situations. "As I made my way home, I thought Jem and I would get grown but there wasn't much else left for us to learn, except possibly algebra" (Lee pg. #). This statement shows that she understands the prejudice and people's thinking, at last. That makes her life a lot different.
In conclusion, To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about growing up and taking other people into consideration. Scout Finch is the main example of this. She starts the novel as a naive, ill mannered, tomboy. By the last page, Scout has transformed into an understanding, empathetic, polite, young lady. There is not a specific age where a girl turns into a woman or where a boy turns into a man. Maturity is reached through experiences and how they are handled.
...innocence. In some sense, because of her age, Scout’s perceiving of happenings in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are more accurate, ethically speaking. Scout is reluctant to being very feminine because she wants to grow up on her own terms. She sees being feminine as a trap, and she doesn't understand that being masculine has just as many rules. When looking deep into Scout’s character traits, she has lots of morals lessons that she teaches in a roundabout way. She shows that you should not be afraid to stand up for what you believe in no matter your age, gender, or the family that you were raised in. Also, she teaches a lesson continually throughout the story that you can never be able to please everyone and sometimes you have to try very hard to stay true to yourself. The character of Scout has many lessons embedded into her actions if looked deep enough into.
Maturity is a coming of age when a person is growing emotionally and mentally. Maturity is gained by experiences and decision-making, thus learning from mistakes. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Through characterization and symbolism Lee displays maturity.
Another way Scout changed a lot was in the way she treated Boo Radley. At the beginning of the book Jem, Dill, and herself enjoyed playing "Boo Radley" as a game and tormenting him by trying to have a chance to see him or prove their bravery by touching the house. As time went on, Scout's fears and apprehensions regarding the Radley place slowly disappeared. She mentions how "the Radley Place had ceased to terrify me (her)..." As she matures and is more able to take care of herself, she realizes more and more that Boo Radley is a human being, just like herself.