Theme Of Growing Up In To Kill A Mockingbird

Growing Up
How fast can children mature in their responses to others? Scout starts off as an immature young girl. Through the events that happen to her such as trying to get Boo Radley to come out and an unfair trial of a black man, she grows up. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the Coming of Age genre to show immature responses and mature responses through Scout’s eyes.
When she was younger and knew less of the world, Scout responded in an immature way to practically everything. In the schoolyard, after Scout was reprimanded for standing up for a boy in class, she thinks “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure… I stomped at him to chase him away” (Lee 22-23). This quote shows how Scout would

essentially bully everyone, especially when they emotionally hurt her. This is childish because she would take out her frustrations on others instead of turning her cheek and walking away. She was unable to control her own emotions. At another point, during Christmas with relatives, Scout’s cousin, Francis, makes fun of Atticus. He says “‘Nigger-lover…’ This time, I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth. My left impaired, I sailed in with my right” (Lee 84) Once again, Scout gets angry and physically attacks someone, this time her cousin. Although it would have been difficult, she could have controlled her rage, as there were adults around who could punish her. It is certainly a trait of a child to let your emotions control your actions. Another example is when Jem started growing up and being moody. Calpurnia tries to clear up Scout’s confusion, but it doesn’t work. She says “‘Yeah, he’s just about Mister Jem now.’ ‘He ain’t that old,’ I said. ‘All he needs is somebody to beat him up, and I ain’t big enough’” (Lee 115). Scout is confused as her brother is acting odd and Calpurnia is treating him with more respect. However, she thinks the best way to fix him is to beat him up, which is not. Scout believes that violence is almost always the answer to people acting strange, not trying to talk to them or understand them.
Later in Scout’s life, she starts maturing through her experiences in the town.

For example, when Scout sees Mr. Cunningham in the jail practically threatening her father, she says “‘Tell him hey for me, won’t you?’ Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in. Mr. Cunningham displayed no interest in his son, so I tackled his entailment once more in a last ditch effort to make him feel at home” (Lee 154). Scout is trying to follow her father’s advice and do the polite thing. She is hoping to stop Mr. Cunningham by turning his attention to other things and gaining his interest. When she was younger, Scout wouldn’t have even made an attempt to talk, leaving it to her father and brother. Instead, she would have attempted to physically attack the men in the jail, possibly putting her family and herself in more danger. Another example is when Scout learned that Tom Robinson had been shot, and she explains how she acted afterwards. “With my best company manners, I asked her if she would have some [cookies]. After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I” (Lee 237). Scout manages to keep her composure after hearing about an unfair death, and looks to her aunt for guidance. Earlier in the story, Scout would have never looked up to her aunt, as she was always bossing her around and probably would have broken down crying when she heard the news. Now, Scout looks to her aunt for help and does her best to be a lady even in times of trouble. One other example was when Scout talks to her father about why they shouldn’t tell people that Boo Radley saved her brother and herself. She says “‘Mr. Tate was right.’ Atticus disengaged himself and looked at me, ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well, t’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?’” (Lee 276) Scout is referencing the time that she was told by her father not to shoot at a mockingbird, for it was a sin. She felt that

by letting people know about Boo Radley would be like condemning him to an unhappy life, as Boo prefered to be alone. Boo and mockingbirds never hurt anyone and only helped, so in would be cruel to set the world on them, essentially killing them. A younger Scout would have thought Boo should have let the world know that he was a hero, and not even noticed that his personality prefered solitude. The more mature Scout has a better understanding of people. As a result of Scout’s unavoidable aging and learning process, she becomes a more mature person.
Scout grows up quickly, due to her experiences with her town and the people in it. She started off as an immature young girl who wanted things to go her way and thought that violence was almost definitely the answer. By the end of the book, she has matured and realized that in some situations, talking or hiding your emotions is better for everyone. The Coming of Age genre is used to show how the responses of a girl who is aging, physically and mentally, change with time. The theme of growing up is often used as a storytelling tactic, probably because everyone has to grow up eventually. Some people don’t want to grow up, while others are ready to go. This topic has always been of interest, and will most likely stay that way.