Examples Of Bildungsroman In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird: Bildungsroman
To Kill a Mockingbird is a prime example of a Bildungsroman. Harper Lee creates three characters to truly display a Bildungsroman: Jem, Scout, and Dill. In this novel, all three of those characters have different reactions to losing their innocence.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a Bildungsroman in many ways. The first sign of this book being a Bildungsroman is in chapter eight when Miss Maudie's house catches on fire. This fire symbolizes Jem, Scout, and Dill "lighting the match" to their supply of innocence. After the fire, they discover that someone put a blanket over Scout's shoulders. Atticus tells Scout and Jem that it is Boo Radley that put the blanket on her, and Jem goes crazy. Atticus then calms Jem …show more content…

This is seen after Tom Robinson is proven guilty as charged. "His face (Jem's face) was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the the cheerful crowd" (Lee 242): This shows Jem growing up and realizing that everything does not work out perfect. After the trial, Jem, Scout, and Dill are all more grown up, but there is still some innocence left in Scout. This is seen when Scout partakes in Mrs. Grace Merriweather's pageant: "Mrs. Grace Merriweather had composed an original pageant entitled Maycomb County: Ad Astra Per Aspera, and I was to be a ham" (Lee 338). This is significant to the Bildungrsoman theme because the ham is silly, so it symbolizes innocence. However, that innocence is crushed, physically and literally, when Bob Ewell tries to kill Jem and Scout. At that point in the story, Jem, Scout, and Dill have one part of innocence left in them-Boo Radley-and it just so happens that that last bit of innocence is what saves them from Bob Ewell. By now all three of them think very little of Boo Radley, but they still have one curious thought left for him: "We would never see him. He probably did go out when the moon was down and gaze upon Miss Stephanie Crawford" ( Lee 278). Since Scout still sort …show more content…

Scout's reaction is quite unique. She is a combination of Atticus and Dolphus. Scout is a mixture of both of them because Atticus would never get in a fist fight, and Dolphus would never talk about what he did and what he should have done afterwards, but Atticus always does. Scout is faced with a lot of trouble in and out of school involving the trial. Almost all of her fights start with someone calling Atticus a n*****-lover. Scout gets in a fight with her cousin, Francis, because he says Atticus is a n*****-lover: "Francis looked at me carefully, concluded that I had been sufficiently subdued, and crooned softly, 'N*****-lover...' This time I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth" (Lee 96). If Atticus would of been in that situation, he would of talked to Francis about what that really means, and why he is defending Tom. Whereas if Scout is replaced with Dolphus, the scene would not be much different. One of the main things that makes Scout and Atticus alike is that they both can reflect afterwards on what should have happened and apply it to the next situation. This is effective because throughout the rest of the book Scout's fight rate goes down. After her fight with Francis, Uncle Jack tries to talk to her, but Scout is used to Atticus' method: "'Well, in first place you never stopped to gimme a chance to tell you my side of it- you just lit right into me. When Jem an' I fuss Atticus doesn't ever just listen

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