To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis

862 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Harper Lee to kill a mockingbird as a racist novel

To Kill a Mockingbird as a coming of age novel Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird predominant theme portrays the difficult circumstances that some families had to deal with while growing up in the 1930s in the Southern United States. In addition, Harper Lee's novel is also a coming-of-age story that represents the innocence of the central character Scout, evolving into maturity as the result of sorrow and enduring many misfortunes. Scout is Jem’s sister and the young daughter of Atticus. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch is an extraordinary father and human being. Atticus teaches his kids and others about important life lessons such as principles, courage, and sacrifice. As a result, of her father character, Scout becomes a positive and smart …show more content…

She was a tomboy who preferred the company of boys. Throughout her childhood, she tries to understand a society that demands that she act like a girl. She gains valuable lessons and education from her father, Atticus. Scout grow up with personal views that at the time opposed to those of narrow minded people who favor racism and injustice. Scout wanted to attend school but after experiencing injustice while in school she no longer like school. Her innocence is evident during her first day of school, when Ms. Fisher reprimanded Scout for knowing how to read and write. “Ms. Fisher discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more that faint distaste” (Lee 17). In addition, at some point Scout came to the defense of Walter as she was just doing what she believed to be the right thing to do. These incidents display her innocence and view on fairness. Nevertheless, Scout’s innocence starts to change once she begins understanding prejudice and segregation of blacks and whites. Scouts witnessed racial segregation in Chapter 16 when Scout describes the scene outside the courthouse: the colored people sat “in the far corner of the square” (Lee 163). It is the life lessons encountered by Scout that aids in her continuing maturity throughout the

Show More
Related

  • Scouts Journey in Harper Lee´s To Kill a Mockingbird

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch tries to please her father, but living with no mother it’s hard to know how to act. It’s natural to follow Jem, her brother, when that is her only friend through out the years. Imagine hearing gossip about your father from friends, neighbors, and even your own cousin. Scout had to push through all of the gossip and believe in her father. Throughout the novel Scout shows how social she can be. To Kill a Mockingbird is a great novel that keeps you reading. Scout has a positive effect on events such as at the jail, she was the reason that the mob left. She also always curious so she is more mature than most kids her age. Through the journey of the trial she shows how hot-tempered, tomboyish, and mature she can be.

    Read More

  • Scout´s Change in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    602 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scout was the narrator of the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" (by Harper Lee). At first she didn't know a lot about Maycomb (the town they live in), the people in the town and life. Through the book she had lots of new experiences and learned a lot. This knowledge caused significant changes in her characteristics and perspective. As the novel progressed, she has grown up. She has become a better person.

    Read More

  • Atticus Finch Moral Development

    1615 Words  | 4 Pages

    Scout is a young girl growing up in the south, she is intelligent, thoughtful, and good natured. Her identity is somewhat uncommon during the time she lives in. She is characterized as a tomboy, who doesn’t always act “lady like” or proper by southern standards. Scout most likely became the type of person she is by the care of her father, Atticus. He shapes her mind, while trying to protect her from a dangerous world and preserving her childhood.

    Read More

  • Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...finally learned everyone is equal regardless of their skin color. Scout?s perspective towards the conclusion of the novel is emotionally, mentally and socially altered to determine Scout?s final position. Scout?s hindmost position taken is clearly that of racial acceptance and equality.

    Read More

  • Is Scout a Reliable Narrator in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    1231 Words  | 3 Pages

    First of all, Scout allows the reader to focus more on the exterior of situations. Children tend to experience things differently from others. Events that take place in society may be of great importance to adults and mean nothing to children. Things of importance differ between children and adults. But sometimes, a child’s perspective may be the best way to look at things. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the whole town was talking about Tom Robinson’s trial, especially since he was African American and Atticus, a white man, was to be his lawyer. According to reviewer Edwin Bruell in Racism in Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, “[To Kill A] Mockingbird, he tells us, is about the townspeople, not about Robinson” (Mancini 101)....

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    544 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scout is a tomboy who has a soft side. Even though she is rough and Strong, she is also a coward, like the time she wouldn’t go to the Radely house. She beats up the kids at school for example she beat up the kids for picking on her for liking black people. Scout is smart and trustworthy. Although most of the town is racist she thinks every body is equal.

    Read More

  • Growth and Maturity in To Kill a Mockingbird

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...st in school by learning about Hitler and the horrible historical events that have happened in the world. Her maturity is expressed by what she has learned about the world around her and can apply those things to her every day life. Moreover, Scout has matured greatly in the novel and she has learned many lessons about life, family, and womanhood.

    Read More

  • Compassion and Tolerance in To Kill A Mockingbird

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Power of Telling the Story in To Kill a Mockingbird through the Eyes of a Child

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the story is told by a young girl called Jean-Louise Finch but also known as Scout aged five at the start of the book almost turning six who in the book is quite unique as she could read at the age of six and understand her fathers profession as a lawyer. The story is about Scout growing up in the southern state of Alabama in a small town called Maycomb with her brother Jem and her father called Atticus who is the lawyer. The main theme of the book is about Atticus defending a black man called Tom Robinson and he is accused of raping a white girl called Mayella Ewell and how it affects her, in the book she learns about racism and prejudice and the struggle of black men in life and she also learns about the ways of life and family traditions. The book is set in the late 1930’s so racial discrimination is at its peak in the southern states of America.

    Read More

  • Jem Finch Maturity

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    Scout realizes that not everybody is the same and is capable of recognizing that and was able to prove her strengths. The children realize what horrid things adults are capable of and put forth the effort to change that, because Atticus is a wise, good-hearted man who taught his children right. “ ‘Jem see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes for a minute. I destroyed his last shred of credibility at the trial, if he had any to begin with.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Essay

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each and every person will go through a coming of age experience sometime in their life. Those experiences can come in different forms. But, each coming of age experience ends up shaping us to become a mature adult. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a coming of age story through Scout Finch, an aging girl’s point of view. Her brother, Jem Finch who experiences coming of age before Scout, realizes that being an adult was not what he hoped. Jem recognizes a different perspective of bravery from Mrs.Dubose, a vile, elderly woman’s perspective. In chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements such as character, conflict, and setting to establish Jem’s new outlook on life.

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scout is a young, elementary school girl and she is the main character and narrator of the story. She is greatly influenced by her father, Atticus Finch, and his moral guidelines and belief system. Atticus is a non-discriminatory person who is willing to help anyone, no matter their race, religion, or gender. Mayella

    Read More

  • To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the novel, the reader finds that Scout Finch is not the most peaceful girl. She fights boys quite often, and never backs down from a fight. One day Cecil Jacobs approached Scout and was taunting her because her father is “defending niggers”.

    Read More

  • Coming of Age Amidst Racism and Trauma: Scout's Transformation in To Kill a Mockingbird

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    When one is young, one is oblivious to the harsh realities of life. The imperfect human nature, suffering, and trauma can influence a child’s view of the world and the people in it. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a story about the coming of age of Scout, a young girl living in the post Civil War South, in a context of racism, violence and aggression. As Scout faces these new experiences, she relies upon her African-American nanny, Calpurnia, her reclusive neighbor, Arthur Radley, and her father, Atticus Finch to help her through it all. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the characterization of Scout to illustrate that when a naive child is exposed to traumatic, adult situations, they may develop a deeper and a more mature understanding of the people who influence them in their life.

    Read More

  • The Setting of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    2328 Words  | 5 Pages

    This shows that scout has heard the word used at school and assumed that because other people use it, it is not wrong. This demonstrates how racism can be spread across generations. People with racist ideas might not realise that their beliefs are offensive because it is what they have been brought up with. The most obvious example of racism in the book is the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white girl. After hearing the evidence from both sides it is quite obvious that Tom Robinson is not guilty of th... ...

    Read More

More about To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis

Open Document