In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout matures greatly throughout the novel, and her innocent nature is lost as she realizes how brutal and malicious people can be. Scout matures greatly with the help of other characters throughout the course of this novel . An example of Scout’s maturing, is when she loses her temper, and she no longer fights the people who have made her mad. At the beginning of the novel Scout would get into physical fights with the people that she got into disagreements with, but towards the end of the novel she tried to see the situation from the other person's point of view. Atticus, her father, told her “You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”(39) This is Atticus’s word of advice after Scout told him about the tussle that she got in with …show more content…
Walter Cunningham for making her “...start off on the wrong foot.”(30) Scout also shows that she is maturing in this novel by going to school and understanding that this is important.
Before Scout started school she was excited and ready to learn, but when she got to school and started realizing that she was the only one who knew how to read and write she decided it wasn’t all that it seemed to be. Scout pestered Atticus about letting her skip school and would say that it is unfair that the Ewell’s only had to come to the first day. Atticus then explained to her that “...the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations...they were people but they lived like animals.”(40) he also told Scout “They can go to school anytime they want to, when they show the faintest symptom of wanting an education.”(40) The Finch family name is respected and they would never act in the way the Ewells do. This means that Scout has to go to school to get an education because it will
later help her to become successful in life, and not turn into something like the Ewells. Scout takes into consideration what Atticus has told her and decides to keep going to school. The idea of school eventually becomes normal to her, and she doesn’t put up a fight. Aunt Alexandra, Atticus’ sister, is adamant about keeping up the Finch name and making sure Scout grows up into a proper lady. Aunt Alexandra invites Scout to join the missionary circle, but if she does she must wear a dress. Scout doesn’t like this idea at first, but she goes along with it and wears a dress to make her Aunt happy. Before, Scout wouldn’t have worn the dress at all and would have put up a fight with her Aunt about how she doesn’t want to wear a dress, and how she can be a lady in overalls. Although Scout still wears her overalls underneath her dress she realizes that if it makes her Aunt happy she will wear the dress. This shows that Scout is maturing because she starts to understand Atticus and Aunt Alexandra’s point of views, and that they are not doing this because they want to make her life miserable but rather they want her to be successful and have a good life. As Scout matures she loses her innocent nature that all children have before they realize the bad in the world. The summer before Scout starts school, and Atticus takes the case of Tom Robinson Jem, Scout and Dill played games, one specifically the “Boo Radley” game where they act out Boo Radley’s life. This shows their innocence because they like to play games and act it out, but it also shows that they don’t understand or realize that their actions could hurt the feelings of Boo Radley if he figured out what they were playing. Scout, Jem and Dill slowly lose their innocence as they grow up and realize that not everything is good in the world, like the people of Maycomb, when they judge Atticus for the way he raised Scout. She also shows lots of innocence when she talks about her and Dill getting married when they are older. Scout says that she loves Dill and that he proposed to her which shows their innocence because they don’t understand the concept of love and the commitment of marriage just yet at this point in their lives. As they grow older they will start to understand what love and marriage mean, but for now it’s almost like another game that they play. Another example of Scout’s innocence is when she gets in trouble for explaining to Miss Caroline about the Cunninghams. Scout tells Miss Caroline, “ The Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back...they don’t have much, but they get along on it”(26), Miss Caroline then proceeds to tell Scout, “Jean Louise, I’ve had about enough of you this morning…You’re starting out on the wrong foot in every way my dear.”(27) The reader understands that Scout was just trying to tell Miss Caroline about the ways of Maycomb, but Miss Caroline took Scout’s innocent explanation and took it as Scout being rude to her. These representations from the book show that Scout loses her innocent nature as she matures throughout the novel. As this novel progresses Scout realizes how brutal and malicious people can be. Before Atticus took the case of Tom Robinson, he was still being judged and talked about by the people of Maycomb. Atticus was never a great father in the eyes of many people in the small town, he never raised Scout to be a lady even though he was trying his best. When Atticus took Tom’s case he was most of the gossip in Maycomb. This eventually got around to Scout, and she was angry about the way the townspeople were talking about her father. She didn’t understand why people had to be so mean, her father was the only man who would take the case, but what she didn’t realize was how “socially wrong” his act of defending a colored man was. Scout also started to realize about the world's cruel and bitter people when Mr. Ewell met Atticus on the corner after the trial and spit on him. Atticus had done nothing wrong but yet was still ridiculed for defending Tom. Mr. Ewell also showed Scout that there are brutal and malicious people in the world when he tried to kill both her and Jem to get back at Atticus. Mr. Ewell was too much of a coward to say or do anything to Atticus himself but rather to Atticus’ children instead. In conclusion, Scout has matured and grown throughout the course of this novel and she loses her innocent nature as she realizes how bitter and malicious people can be.
At the end of the book, Scout learns to look at life through others perspective before judging them and believing the rumors. Scout succeeds to understand Boo Radley's perspective and fulfills atticus’s advice that ¨you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.¨ Despite all of the rumors, Scout learns to assume another person's perspective before jumping to
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 ...
As people grow in life, they mature and change. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, matures as the book continues. Slowly but surely, Scout learns to control her explosive temper, to refrain from fistfights, and to respect Calpurnia, their maid, and to really learn her value to the family. Scout simply changes because she matures, and she also changes because Atticus, her father, asks her to. In the early chapters of the book, Scout picks fights at the slightest provocation.
Scout is the main character in this book, everything happens from her point of view. But, what happens with her, how does she change and develop? Throughout the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout develops by becoming less aggressive, more independent, and more able to see things from other people's points of view.
One of the most important characters read during this semester was Scout Finch. Compared to other characters in To Kill a Mockingbird who were not of the Finch family, Scout was different. She was mature, for equality, and noble. These are all attributes, none of which could be found in most characters of the book. This is especially significant considering the early age of Scout. With her age with her level of nobility, maturity, and her strong sense of racial equality, Scout is not only years ahead of her age, but also above the rest of Maycomb County.
On several occasions, Scout gets into a fight with people who make unpleasant comments about her father. Atticus continuously tells her that this is wrong and that she needs to learn to control her anger, “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down. No matter what anybody says to you, don’t you let ‘em get your goat. Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 101). The day after this discussion with Atticus, Scout is approached by a fellow student who had previously made a mean comment about her father. “I drew a bead on him, remembered what Atticus had said, then dropped my fists and walked away...it was the first time I ever walked away from a fight” (Lee 102). 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”
Atticus helps scout with interacting and showing her how to socialize with others while getting to know them. Atticus tries to teach scout that not everyone is going to like her but, as Atticus states, "no matter what anybody says to you, don't let them get your goat", (Chapter 9 page 101). He explains how scout should not let what people say influence her to think otherwise about something. At the same time, Atticus explains how she neither can judge anyone either, as Atticus formally says, "you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view" [...] (chapter 3 page 39). Atticus wants scout to know and understand that it is wrong to judge or assume something about somebody if you don't know the accurate reason as to why they do what they do. Being the kind, respectful man Atticus is, he also wants to teach scout the right from wrong,
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.
Scout undergoes three stages of rapid change. She goes from being innocent of the corruption in Maycomb County, to being exposed to the problems the society of Maycomb has, then finally realizing the truth behind Maycomb. One example of Scout’s change in the story is when her thinking of people went from saying, "He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham" to “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” One thing is for sure Scout’s views did
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.
Each and every person will go through a coming of age experience sometime in their life. Those experiences can come in different forms. But, each coming of age experience ends up shaping us to become a mature adult. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a coming of age story through Scout Finch, an aging girl’s point of view. Her brother, Jem Finch who experiences coming of age before Scout, realizes that being an adult was not what he hoped. Jem recognizes a different perspective of bravery from Mrs.Dubose, a vile, elderly woman’s perspective. In chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements such as character, conflict, and setting to establish Jem’s new outlook on life.
Scout Finch is not the stereotypical girl from the 1930’s. Agents the wishes of everyone around her, she grows up in overalls instead of dresses. Scout plays in the dirt and sand, instead of in the kitchen. In the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, Scout is the wild spirited narrator, growing up in the small town of Maycomb. As she gets older, she learns mostly from her father Atticus how to interact with people. Scout learns to show dignity and respect to everyone, under any circumstances.
In the beginning of the book, Scout is worrying about her teacher’s teaching methods. In addition, Scout is worried about getting in trouble. However, towards the end of the book, Scout is tackling serious world issues. She contemplates how not everyone has the same opportunities. Furthermore, she worries about African Americans being treated unjustly on a daily basis. After the Tom Robinson trial, the whole Finch family is upset, but they leave it to young Scout to showcase her maturity. Scout shows maturity when she states, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed” (Lee 276). Scout saw the situation from Tom Robinson’s point of view and how he knew that he was a dead man because of the racist white jury. Earlier in the novel, she would not have been mature enough to think about the trial in that way and would not have understood such a challenging concept. After the trial, Scout starts thinking about others and what it would be like to walk a day in their shoes. This is showcased during a conversation with Jem when Scout says, “No, everybody’s gotta learn, nobody’s born knowin’. That Walter’s as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes because he has to stay out
Atticus is a major influence on Scout’s identity. He tells Scout, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (33). Atticus’s counsel teaches Scout to never judge someone until she is aware of their reasoning. This guidance helps Scout to interact with the people around her. One example of when she used Atticus’s advice is against the lynch mob. She convinces Mr. Cunningham to leave by talking to him about what he cared about. This interaction shows how an individual’s connection to family members affects his judgement and, therefore, his character. In addition, Atticus expands on this advice later in the novel, stating, “The one thing that...