Examples Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

Coming of Age There are many aspects that go into one’s coming-of age. During this time children grow, learn, gain responsibility, and become independent. Throughout this time of a child’s life, the child must learn to gain new perspectives in order to fully mature. How can one truly come-of-age without being able to realize there is more views about situations than solely their own? Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout are both examples of characters whose coming-of-age process involves gaining different perspectives. In the story, Jem’s character is continuously going through the motions of growing up. It is obvious that Harper Lee wanted Jem to portray a young boy

Throughout the time period of adolescence, teen brains are constantly developing into a more mature form of itself: “But as we move through adolescence, the brain undergoes extensive remodeling, resembling a network and wiring upgrade”(Dobbs). Meaning, in the teenage years, teens brains are constantly reworking the way they think. The brain does this, in part, by gaining new perspectives. For example, an adolescent who used to play with dolls when they were younger, now may think it would be very childish to do so. This is due to the teen getting a new more mature perspective. All kinds of new perspectives are being gained during adolescence. These changes in perspective could be as small as viewing dolls differently, or as big as seeing politics in a new light. Sometimes this time period of gaining new perspectives can be seen as dangerous or obnoxious. This is due to the amount of risk teens take throughout the adolescence time period. Although the adolescence stage may be seen as a danger, it is actually a vital part to human development and maturity: “. . . adolescence starts to seem like a highly functional, even adaptive period. It is exactly what you’d need to do the things you have to do then” (Dobbs). What Dobbs means by this is when teens are going through the time period of adolescence, all the scary risk and obnoxious things teens do are an important part of them gaining knowledge and new perspectives. Adolescence is not harmful to teens, but rather a helpful time period that allows them to take on adult responsibilities, and learn from mistakes they make. By gaining new perspectives through experiencing adult responsibilities and learning from mistakes during adolescence, teens become smarter and more