To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Essay

870 Words2 Pages

Tears, darkness and confusion could destroy a beautiful childhood. The destruction of innocence is shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as in modern day. Coming of age comes with extremely painful changes and challenges. (Biography.com Editors) Dr. Ben Carson had a tough childhood but became successful with education, strength, and wisdom. Ben had to be brave and mature quicker than average to overcome all the situations he had gone through. For example, during his childhood his father left because he had another family. Sonya Carson, Ben’s mother, had to raise him and his brother, Curtis Carson, as a single mother. Although they were financially poor, they were rich with love. His mother was undereducated but made sure her son was an outstanding, …show more content…

Coming of age, is a big aspect in To Kill a Mockingbird. An example is how Scout struggles living as a tomboy. During the time period of the book, women were naturally seen as delicate flowers wearing dresses, and not doing labor while men were the “tough” ones. Scout loved wearing her overalls and doing “boy” things, such as fighting. Thus, Atticus calls in Aunt Alexandra to come live with them for a while. Aunt Alexandra tries to help Scout become more feminine. On the other hand, Jem is coming of age quickly. Jem changes mentally, socially, and emotionally. A mental and emotional change is shown when he begins to ponder his thoughts maturely. When Jem and Scout are in the courthouse after Tom Robinson’s case, Jem begins to ask Atticus teary eyed, (Lee 276) “We’ve won, haven’t we?” He talks about this as if he understood everything that happened during the trial, and he did. A social change is when Jem is annoyed with Scout and says, (Lee 69) “... I declare you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day!” Jem is annoyed at Scout for complaining about him and Charles Baker Harris, or Dill, going to take a peek at Boo Radley’s window. Aside from this fascination of Boo Radley, his childish ways begin to cease, which are his steps into

Open Document