Age and Maturity: Not One in the Same. Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help which Prove This

16 year old Lexi walks down her school hallway in Sarasota, Florida and notices that the art room is overflowing with supplies. “Wow we are lucky to have all these paints,” she thinks to herself as she starts to pick up a book located nearby. The book cover illustrates crafty artworks from Latin America; each artwork lacking a range of supplies. This found book causes her to start her own charity called Art 4 Niño’s at only age 16. Although at a young age, she is one of the few teens taking a stand, which makes her more mature than the typical 16 years old. This act is just one example how age does not limit the ability of an individual. The novels, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Help by Kathryn Stockett, both explore how actions can reach beyond an age’s “normal stereotypes.” Both novels illustrate that maturity is not dependent on one’s age but one’s actions.

Lee demonstrates that as individuals, one must decide how to react in difficult circumstances. After the Tom Robinson court case, Mr. Ewell sees Atticus by the post office and begins to curse at him, spits in his face, and threatens to kill him. Miss Maudie describes Atticus’s actions as, “ Atticus didn’t bat an eye, just took out his handkerchief, wiped his face, and stood there and let Mr. Ewell call him names wild horses could not bring her to repeat” (Lee 217). The mellow calm tone portrayed by Atticus’s actions of remaining quiet and gently wiping his face, shows a maturity many adults do not have themselves. The metaphor of “wild horses” is used to illustrate Bob Ewell’s language was so violent, that “wild horses” could not make her repeat it. Lee continues implying the maturity factor in the scene where Jem and Miss Maudie are discussing the Maycomb pe...

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...dged on maturity, age should never be a key factor in the decision. Through the results of the Tom Robinson case and the advanced overall outlook when it comes to the people of Maycomb, Lee artfully conveys that one’s maturity is determined by how one acts in difficult situations. Likewise, Stockett demonstrates that as individuals, one is considered mature by one actions in everyday events. While both novels are set in America’s past, today people are still judged daily by their maturity levels. While individuals like Lexi continue to overachieve past their age stereotypes, maturity is still limited to the set age. This country has a long way to go to see that age is just a number.

Works Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. East Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA: Harper & Row, 1982. Print.

Stockett, Kathryn. The Help. New York: Penguin Group, 2009. Print.