To Kill A Mockingbird Coming Of Age Analysis

Everyone goes through a gradual change from immaturity to maturity fueled by a multitude of hardships that they face all throughout their life and this is certainly the case when it comes to how Scout matures in the coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. A coming-of-age story is a genre of literature that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from youth to childhood. This exceptional coming-of-age novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, demonstrates how one of the main characters, Jean Louise Finch or ¨Scout¨ evolves from a naive child into a responsible and thoughtful adult. At the very beginning of the novel, Scout is introduced as an immature and a somewhat rude child. At a certain point, Scout starts beating Walter Cunningham and when Jem tells her to stop and asks her why she was fighting him in the first place it turns out that Scout did not have much of a reason. ¨He didn´t have any lunch¨ (Lee 22). The very fact that Scout starts unjustified fights with other children indicates her lack of understanding and mindfulness of others. Later in the novel, after Calpurnia punishes Scout she

Scout acts as the voice of reason when Jem and Dill decide to try and sneak into Boo Radley´s yard. “You all’ve gone crazy, he’ll kill us!” (Lee 48). By saying that, Scout shows maturity. She understands the danger of the situation and tries to prevent Jem and Dill from putting themselves at risk. Later on, Scout takes Atticus’s advice and “climbs into Jem’s skin” (Lee 59). “Jem stayed moody for a week. As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next afternoon. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him” (Lee 59). As Scout follows her father’s advice she displays consideration of Jem’s feelings which is very mature