Theme Of Maturity In To Kill A Mockingbird

“Maturity comes from experience, not age” said Ziad K. Abdelnour. It does not matter what age you are. However, the experiences you go through do affect how you mature. See how two children mature in the 1930’s. Harper Lee’s book, To Kill A Mockingbird, is about two children with their experiences of coming to age in the 1930’s and their changing perceptions of the world. Harper Lee demonstrates the theme of growth and maturity in To Kill A Mockingbird through the two main characters as they progress to a realization of how cruel the world actually is and their loss of innocence. In the beginning of the book Harper Lee demonstrates the progression of maturity through Scout and the way she is immature. Scout’s immaturity is shown through characterization,

Scout is maturing but not fully matured yet, she takes precautions but does not realize the danger of handling a possibly poisoned item. Scout has found a piece of gum in the tree by Mr. Radley’s house. She does not know who has put it there or what they have done to it: “My first impulse was to get it into my mouth as quickly as possible, but I remembered where I was. I ran home, and on our front porch I examined my loot. The gum looked fresh. I sniffed it and it smelled all right. I licked it and waited for awhile. When I did not die, I crammed it into my mouth”(44). This shows how Scout is maturing, but still has a ways to go. It shows how she is maturing by the way she closely examines the gum. She takes it home and smells it to make sure it is okay to eat. If she was fully matured, she would have never touched the gum in the first place, she would know the dangers of eating things she finds. Scout is coming to a realization that Atticus is more than he appears. Scout thinks that Atticus has been trying to beat Jem and her in chess, but in reality, he was never trying. “‘Atticus Finch could beat everybody on both sides of the river.’ ‘Good lord, Miss Maudie, Jem and me beat him all the time.’ ‘It’s because he let you…’ This modest accomplishment served to make me even more ashamed of him”(120). Scout is coming to a realization that Atticus is more than he

Harper Lee shows how maturity comes from experiences, not age. She shows this by how Scout and Jem change throughout the book. At first, Scout and Jem are innocent and do not really understand the world. By the end of the book, Scout and Jem have a better understanding of the world and how things work. I can relate to this because I am also growing and maturing. I still consider myself quite immature, but I have come a long way. I have gone through some experiences that have really helped me mature. These experiences have given me a different outlook on life, just like how Scout and Jem have a different outlook on