Bildungsroman Through Tkam Analysis

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Scout Finch’s Bildungsroman Through TKAM The main protagonist’s development through Harper Lee’s Southern Gothic story; To Kill a Mockingbird(TKAM) is radical yet expected, furthered by retrospective narration. Scout, the protagonist, is a tomboy who beats up boys her age. But the transformation from distressed girl to “lady” is radical and can be seen through three phases. Scout first broadens her horizons by meeting different types of people in her town, she then is introduced to various, radical, points of view, finally she is able to apply her maturity to understand various situations and people. Scout’s interactions with different people and personalities begin with Miss Caroline, Walter Cunningham, and Calpurnia. Because of Miss Caroline’s …show more content…

This is the culmination of the rampant inequality of the south. But Scout’s development during the trial and the events leading away from the trial are the final chapters of her development and sort of test what she has learned in the past chapters. “She was even lonelier than Boo Radley. When Atticus asked had she any friends, she seemed not to know what he meant, then she thought he was making fun of her. She was as sad…: white people wouldn’t have anything to do with her…; Negroes wouldn’t have anything to do with her. She couldn’t live like Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who preferred the company of Negroes. Nobody said, ‘That’s just their way,’ about the Ewells. Maycomb gave them…the back of its hand. Tom Robinson was probably the only person who was ever decent to her.” (Lee p.256) This is the most classic case of walking around in someone else’s shoes. Scout understands the predicaments of Mayella Ewell’s situation and the holes Mayella Ewell has dug herself into. Scout sympathizes with an enemy with different ideas. The next is when talk about Hitler is engaged in Scout’s school. After hearing the crimes Hitler commits against the Jews Scout sympathizes with them and comes up with this statement: “Looked to me like they’d shut Hitler in a pen instead of letting him shut them up.” (Lee p.329) Scout comes to this conclusion when she realizes the cruelty of Hitler at the time. After the attack of Mr. Ewell (and …show more content…

Next she is exposed to radical ideas and is forced to take sides and come up with her own opinions. Finally, she uses what she has learned and shows her maturity by sympathizing with things and people opposing her. Because she broadens her horizons by meeting different types of people in her town, is introduced to various points of view, and able to apply her maturity to understand various situations and people Scout in Harper Lee’s to Kill a Mocking bird becomes an example of Bildungsroman. Scout’s unprejudiced views and method of narration exemplify the golden rule: treating others as one would wish to be treated

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