In “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, was written during a time period of racism and extreme financial difficulties. This novel portrays a theme of the loss of innocence. Overtime, a person's innocence is influenced by their experiences. Characters like Scout, Jem, and Dill went through a lot during the book and they learned quite a few lessons.
Scout’s loss of innocence was influenced by her knowledge of reading. During her first days of school, she was punished for her intelligence. The new teacher introduced a new way of teaching called the Dewey Decimal System. She shouldn't have been punished for being gifted. Another lesson, Scout learned during her first week of school was how to properly treat a visitor. Walter Cunningham visited
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He was starting to understand the adult world and his father's career. He felt that his father was going to win the case on account of the evidence presented to the judge and jury justifies that Tom was guilty. In the eyes of the jury, Tom was guilty due to the color of his skin. Jem learned that not everyone is the world is as sympathetic as they think they are. Jem’s father, Atticus said, “ There is a lot of ugly things in the world, son. I wish I could keep them away from you. That's never possible.” Jem knew that his father was an outstanding man for defending a colored man. Even though his father was unable to win the case, he knew it wasn't the end to all the injustice in the world that he lives in. Dill lost his innocence during Tom Robinson’s case. He starts to cry during the direct examination of Tom by Mr. Gilmer who was the plaintiff. Dill felt that he was being a little too harsh on Tom. The questions that he was asking was too much for Dill to handle. He learned his lesson from a man by the name of that taught him that nothing was different with Tom only the color of his skin. He learned that racism was normal and that it was not going to end any time soon. The people in the town was prejudice and nothing was going to stop them from thinking the way they
In Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" shows and teaches many lessons throughout the passage. Some characters that learn lessons in this passage are Scout, Jem, and Dill. Scout and Jems father Atticus, is taking a case that affects their lives in so many ways. They all learn new things throughout the story and it impacts their lives greatly. There are lots of things including the trial mostly that change the perspective of the world they live in. The kids are living in the Great Depression and it shows just how bad things really where. Scout, Jem, and Dill have experiences that force them to mature and gain new insight.
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
To Kill A Mockingbird is a heroic tale of leadership and courage during racial times. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Atticus, To, Jem and Scout are unfortunately exposed to a really racist and prejudiced society and town. Which ends up causing them to lose a case and really confuse Jem and Scout when they are young. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, it uses characterization to help show a theme of loss of innocence when people are exposed to surprising and unfair situations.
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of coming-of-age and the loss of innocence through the character Jem. Through recurring events, Jem is faced with the realization of society’s injustice, and is left questioning the world he lives in. During a time of rampant racial discrimination and prejudice in the south, Jem transforms from naivety to maturity.
Harper Lee’s only book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the stereotypical tale of childhood and innocence, yet it successfully incorporates mature themes, like the racism in the South at the time, to create a masterpiece of a work that has enraptured people’s minds and hearts for generations. According to esteemed novelist Wally Lamb, “It was the first time in my life that a book had sort of captured me. That was exciting; I didn’t realize that literature could do that” (111). Scout’s witty narration and brash actions make her the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for, and the events that take place in Maycomb County are small-scale versions of the dilemmas that face our world today. Mockingbird is a fantastically written novel that belongs on the shelves of classic literature that everyone should take the time to read and appreciate for its execution of style and the importance of its content.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Theme of Innocence & nbsp; & nbsp; Innocence is a time when a person has never done something, it is the first step in the theme of innocence to experience. The second step in the movement from innocence to experience, is experience. This step is what is achieved after a person or thing has done something they have never done before or learns something they have never known before. The theme of growth from innocence to experience occurs many times in the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This process is one of the central themes in the first eleven chapters of this book, because it shows how Scout and Jem change and mature. & nbsp;
Scout first learns to show compassion and tolerance by refusing to go to school because she hates Miss Caroline. Atticus tells her that, 'First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it'; (30). When Atticus told her this, she began to accept Miss Caroline as well as other people's differences and opinions.
Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird: The Significance of a Mockingbird In a society surrounded by corruption, racism, and cruelty it is rare to find purity. Innocence is constantly being destroyed. For this reason, the harmless citizens need to be treasured and protected. Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird portrays the injustices of the 1930’s that expose the innocent to the malice of the society’s intentions. Some characters in the novel are characterized as harmless and pure and are symbolized by mockingbirds.
Most would argue that Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is an uplifting story about hope and youth. In reality, it is a sad story about two children, Jem and Scout, losing their innocence through treacherous life experience. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story about childhood in the deep south during the great depression. It speaks about the concepts of racism, innocence and justice as the protagonists, Scout and Jem, struggle with coming of age. The Finch children lose their innocence throughout the book in many ways, such as being involved with the trial, the lynch mob, and Bob Ewell's death. At it’s core, TKAM is a story about youth, and the loss thereof. When Scout and Jem are involved in the lynch mob, they lose their
Throughout the trial, Jem’s understanding strengthens and it becomes clear to him that “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view-until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”(Lee 30). When Atticus takes on a case, choosing to defend a black man in a trial, Jem is significantly impacted when the jury delivers the verdict that Tom is guilty after Atticus does everything in his power to prove that Mr. Robinson is innocent. Jem puts himself in Tom Robinson’s shoes, allowing him to see the trial from another point of view; the racist side of the story. He is shaken by the outcome of the trial, making “His hands white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each ‘guilty’ was a separate stab between
Loss of Innocence in Killing a Mockingbird Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather, the streets turned red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. " (Lee 9). This environment, as Scout Finch accurately describes, is not conducive to young children, loud noises, and games. But, the Finch children and Dill must occupy themselves in order to avoid boredom.
Most people believe that innocence is a necessary childhood factor. When innocence is torn away from children, the rest of their lives can be changed for the worst. While you are a child, you should be able to be one, and that is what Harper Lee expresses in one of her stories. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses symbolism, as well as characterization, to show that when Innocence is taken from individuals, it changes the future of those individuals.
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
Tom Robinson’s trial, and in fact his entire life, was badly affected by racism. It is truly a testament to the corruption of society when a person who has earned a bad reputation is held in higher esteem than a person who was born with it, as is the case with Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson. Even though Tom was obviously honest in his testament, the jury sided with Bob Ewell because he was white. They made this decision despite the fact that the Ewell family was widely known to be a worthless part of society. Jem, not being racially prejudiced, could not understand this mentality. As Atticus pointed out, “If you (Jem) had been on the jury, son, and eleven other boys like you, Tom would be a free man.”
Harper Lee, used language features to explore the loss of innocence in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. The novel is narrated from a 6 year old’s perspective, Scout. As the story progressed, Scout matured and the language used and the thoughts portrayed throughout the book were more developed and advanced. The key theme displayed in this novel is loss of innocence and is explored through the following language features – Narrative Voice and Structure, Characterisation and Symbolism and Analogy. Lee’s personal style allowed the utilisation of these language features and through the exploration of loss of innocence.