To Kill A Mockingbird Bildungsroman Analysis

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Alyssa Pisciotto
English 1 Adv.
4/24/2017
Growing & Learning
What is a bildungsroman? A bildungsroman is a novel that focuses on the psychological or moral growth of a character from childhood to adulthood. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is an example of a bildungsroman narrated by a young girl named Scout Finch in a sleepy Southern town. The reader follows Scout and her brother Jem as they try to uncover mysteries of a neighbor Boo Radley and how they grow during when their father Atticus takes a trial that is to prove a black man innocent of rape. As the children grow, Scout learns maturity, courage, and empathy from people in her life in the course of the novel.
Scout learns how to be mature in the course of

the novel. For example, after Atticus says to Scout that she had learned many things her first day of school, Scout narrates, “...if Walter and I had put ourselves in her shoes we’d have seen it was an honest mistake on her part. We could not expect her to learn all Maycomb’s ways in one day, and we could not hold her responsible when she knew no better” (30). After Scout thinks over her first day of school with a teacher that seemed to pick on her, she realizes that she should have a grudge on her. Scout puts herself in the shoes of another and realizes that her teacher is also new and can’t learn about the town in one day showing maturity in herself. Furthermore, when Scout stood at Boo Radley’s front porch step, she says, “Summer, and he watched his children’s heartbreak again, and Boo’s children needed him” (279). Scout shows her maturity in this quote showing how she can understand how
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people other than her see the world. She is finally accepting others ideas on how they see things and live in the world. Scout learns maturity throughout the course of the novel.
Throughout the novel, Scout learns how to be courageous. For instance, after Scout is called a coward, she narrates, “It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight” (77). Even though Scout was called a coward, she did not fight showing self-control. It took more courage for her to walk away from a fight that she knew she could have won easily. Equally important, after Atticus shot Tim Johnson dead, Miss Maudie said, “I think maybe he put his gun down when he realized that God had given him an unfair advantage over most living things” (98). Scout learns courage through Atticus when he put his gun down. He could have used his unfair advantage over innocent living things and used all the power he had but he didn’t showing the self-control a person can have. Courage is brought to Scout as a more knowledged individual.
Scout learns to have empathy throughout the novel.

For example, when she stood at the Radley’s place looking out towards the street and narrates, “I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all the time...it’s because he wants to stay inside” (227). Scout finally sees how Boo sees the world from his window and forgets about the rumours of him being pernicious. She doesn’t judge him for staying inside anymore because she learns that he wants to stay inside so he won’t have to deal with the town they live in. Further, when Scout still stood at the front porch step of the Radley’s place, she narrates to the reader, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (279). Scout learns from Atticus how to stop before she judges someone’s life. When stepping into Boo’s shoes, she realizes she

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can’t judge someone and the negative thoughts in her mind about him diminish. Scout learns how to be empathic in the course of the novel.
Through the course of the novel, Scout grew and learned how to be mature, how to be courageous, and how to be empathic. Throughout the book, the reader grows and matures with Scout. The events in the novel teach the reader how to have maturity, courage, and

empath