Examples Of Maturity In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

“Maturity is when your world opens up and you realize that you are not the center of it.” –M.J. Croan. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the path to maturity through the character Scout who exhibits the journey it takes to accept one’s responsibility and limitations. Shaping the mockingbird as a representation of innocence, it is stated “it is a sin to kill a mockingbird”, symbolizing Scout as she gradually becomes more mature throughout the novel, consequently leaving behind her innocence while also reconstructing her empathy and tolerance for others. Similarly Scout and I were both naïve to the world around us, but because of witnessing first-hand the inhumanity around us blatantly displayed a lack of empathy people contain within them. This was a learning experience for myself because it brought home racial discrimination in an event that will

forever impact the way I treat others of a different race, colour or religion. The author elucidates the effect maturity can have on a young person, whether good or bad.
The narrator, Scout, does not share the same mindset and fears as the people of Maycomb, who believe African Americans should be below their social status. She reveals a naïve and innocent aspect toward the world that is shown when she is not infected with what Atticus calls “Maycomb’s usual disease.” Initially Scout has little comprehension of the prejudice affecting the population of Maycomb. However, as the novel progresses, she learns through Tom Robinson’s trial that people don’t share the same aspect of equality and empathy that she values when he is convicted guilty for simply being Negro, whose declaration of his innocence was being held against a white woman’s version of the events. Greatly exaggerating her role, Scout stated initially “they need[ed] me” (192) but she later matures, comprehending now that she was never the focal point of people’s attention. Furthermore, Scout additionally gains an understanding of prejudice and how it can distort the truth. Throughout the novel, it is shown at what cost do we mature, and if we need to change our mindset to do so.
My Father made a conscious decision to have me raised in a diverse community so I can learn to be tolerant and be empathetic towards others. Born in a white middle class community, my Dad never knew the struggles people from different ethnicities can endure and was rather blocked away from it. I learned to empathize with others who had dealt with racial discrimination, never letting their colour block who they truly are. However, from actually witnessing an act of prejudice toward a friend of mine, I have become more aware of people’s intolerance just based on them being black. This was an eye-opening experience because it brought a realization to me that not everyone is empathetic. A human truth is displayed by there being no degree of empathy, you either have it or not.

Throughout the novel, Scout’s maturity and empathy progressed leaving her able to look at the world through a different perspective.

Scout`s mindset shifted for the better, now that she perceives people for whom they truly are, while further comprehending that not everyone deserves empathy, but rather pain. Tom`s trial was an unexpected event that left her impacted for the rest of her life. The repercussions of the event left Scout vulnerable to the unknown, consequently leading her to adapt to Maycomb`s idea of tolerance and empathy.

We as a human race are born with no idea about intolerance or prejudice; it is something that is developed over-time through our environment. I learned to not pre-judge people in a negative way like others might do in an attempt to hide their own flaws. I thought I was mature before I witnessed an act of prejudice which opened my world up to the unknown. Now understanding from the perspective of the maligned party, maturity is not something that happens instantaneously, but a process that will keep progressing throughout my

life.