Characters grow and develop and allow us to become a part of their lives in ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. This is true because the story is told from the perception of a young girl called Scout.
We get so close to Scout because the whole story is told from her point of view. We share her experiences as she would go through them, we are with her when some of the most important events in her life happen to her, life changing events that can change a person, like being attacked by Bob Ewell and watching her father defend Tom Robinson in court. We learn everything she learns, like why the Ewells and the Cunninghams live the way they live and why Atticus defended Tom Robinson in court.
In only the first few pages of the book we learn so much about the town of Maycomb and the people in it, through Scout’s narration. As the book progresses on, we see her grow up and mature, and begin to understand things that she didn’t understand in the beginning e.g. her neighbor Boo. In one of the first few chapters Atticus tells Scout that ‘you never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’ When he told her this she didn’t understand and take on board what he meant. As the story develops we witness all the events unfolding leading to her standing on Boo Radley’s front porch and fully understanding what Atticus had said. It is here that we realize that Scout has changed and now has different views of the town and the people in it to what she had in the beginning of the story.
Jem also grows and develops as a character by the end of the book. We get close to Jem in the story because being Scout’s older brother, he is always with her. Jem is ten in the beginning of the story and the story continues until he is thirteen. He starts out very curious and always asking questions (not as much as Scout though) but he is older. We also witness him go through the same life changing events as Scout, but he has a different perception of them, like when Mrs. Dubose dies, it isn’t a big deal to Scout, but to Jem he learns what real courage is and that is undoubtedly what starts to change him from a boy to a young man.
At the end of the book, Scout learns to look at life through others perspective before judging them and believing the rumors. Scout succeeds to understand Boo Radley's perspective and fulfills atticus’s advice that ¨you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.¨ Despite all of the rumors, Scout learns to assume another person's perspective before jumping to
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.
At such a young age, Scout still has a sort of innocence that any reader will find entertaining and emotional at times. There are many scenarios when Scout seems like just a little girl that we can’t help loving. One instance is when a mob of men gathers at the jailhouse where Atticus is guarding Tom Robinson. Scout and Jem sneak out of the house and they run up to Atticus while the men are still talking to him. Sometime during the whole confrontation, Scout recognizes one of the men and makes a personal connection with him. “ ‘Hey, Mr. Cunningham. How’s your entailment gettin’ along?’... He seemed uncomfortable; he cleared his throat and looked away. My friendly overture had fallen flat… ‘Don’t you remember me, Mr. Cunningham? I’m Jean Louise Finch. You brought us some hickory nuts one time, remember?’... Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about… ,when I slowly awoke to the fact that I was addressing the entire aggregation. The men were all looking at me, some had their mouths half-open,” (Lee, 153-154). Scout’s innocent but exciting personality shines through in every aspect of her life. She truly is a unique
To Kill A Mockingbird tells the story of a young girl, Scout, who comes of age and eventually comprehends that not all people are open-minded, or kind. Scouts interactions with other people help to shape her and allow her to accept that not everyone has the same thoughts and opinions as her. Scout and Jem’s interactions with Atticus help the reader clearly understand that he is a responsible, courageous, and non judgmental man.
She turns from a tomboy who does not understand basic feelings and emotion, into a feminine lady, who learns compassion for the people surrounding her. In the beginning of the book, Scout was not able to understand why Boo Radley was locked up in the house. Was it because he was scared? Or because he was delusional? Or because he has no friends? She had no clue. As she grows to become more feminine, she starts to show more empathy. When Scout and Jem are attacked by the vicious Mr.Ewell, Boo steps in. Later, the two meet for the first time, and Scout starts to emphasize with him.“ I led him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr.Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark”(364). Boo Radley has not seen the sun in over a decade, which has made him frightened in the sun. Without any social conversations for over a decade, he is revealed to be very shy among the men . Scout, able to understand his feelings, kindly leads him to the chair in the shadows, where Boo was able to settle in more easily. She did not have to do it, but with learning how to change, she was able to empathize with
Slowly throughout the book, Scouts’ matureness increases and one way you can see this is because she starts understanding the way people think and she puts herself in another's shoes. Atticus gives Scout some advice that she needs to use throughout her life and it changes how she reacts to
Towards the beginning of the novel, the Finches are constantly bombarded with insults from other Maycomb citizens. One day when they are all home, Scout “did not understand how Atticus could sit there…when his only son stood an excellent chance of being murdered…[Scout] hated Atticus for that” (Lee 138). Scout was getting tired of getting picked on by her classmates at school, and she simply wanted it to end. She does not fully understand what Atticus’s intentions yet due to simply because she is still too young to understand. To comprehend what Atticus was doing, Scout needed to mature in order to respect her father’s decisions. Following the trial, Scout thought that “it seemed that [other adults in Maycomb] discussed [the trial] with their children, and their attitude must have been that neither [her or Jem] could help having Atticus for a parent, so their children must be nice to us in spite of him… As it was, [they] were compelled to hold [their] heads high and be, respectively, a gentleman and a lady” (Lee 326). After the trial of Tom Robinson, there was an obvious change in the first person narration. Scout’s words were more confident and more independent than
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Twelve Angry men by Reginald Rose and The Scottsboro Trial are all about unfair trials containing discrimination towards different people and people being prejudice .The peoples action towards the defendants affected them for the rest of their life. Many of the people that came into the court brought in their own social problems and that influenced the verdict.
By the end of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem is transformed from a naive, playful child into an aware, mature young adult. The trial changes his worldview; suddenly the people around him are not all righteous and good, and he grows through this. In recurring events, Jem comes of age through social realizations, and emerges into
Harper Lee’s only book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the stereotypical tale of childhood and innocence, yet it successfully incorporates mature themes, like the racism in the South at the time, to create a masterpiece of a work that has enraptured people’s minds and hearts for generations. According to esteemed novelist Wally Lamb, “It was the first time in my life that a book had sort of captured me. That was exciting; I didn’t realize that literature could do that” (111). Scout’s witty narration and brash actions make her the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for, and the events that take place in Maycomb County are small-scale versions of the dilemmas that face our world today. Mockingbird is a fantastically written novel that belongs on the shelves for classic literature that everyone should take the time to read and appreciate for their execution of style and the importance of their content.
The theme of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mocking Bird is the existence of racism and prejudice in the 1930 – 40's. Harper Lee succeeds in presenting the topic in a manner that is not overly simplistic and thus achieves the task of allowing the reader to fully appreciate the complex nature of unjust discrimination. Harper Lee's inclusion of characters such as Tom Robinson, Boo Radley, Dolphus Raymond and many others, aid the reader to grasp the concept of racism and its central role in the town of Maycomb.
The changes in the Radley house were dramatic from the beginning to the end because the book was constantly changing and new things would pop up or change in the story. One thing To notice about the Radley house is that the doors are only closed when it is cold or Boo is ill. Another thing that makes the place superstitious is that the shutters and doors on the house were always and only closed on Sunday. This maybe people believ that it was alien or that the house had a superstitious figure living in it and people thought that Boo didn't exist. The only one that didn't believe it was Scout because he was unsure of Boo's existence. Boo also carried the name of being the "malevolent phantom" of Maycomb. The house had changed before for instance the one time someone asked Atticus if the house ever had screen doors and it was before even Atticus was born.
The Gender roles in society have greatly changed throughout the years of America from puritan women who thought that showing skin was undoubtedly a sin from the flapper era in american history that welcomed the idea of women showing more of their sexuality. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird which depict the events that occur when a white man who defends an african american man during the era of the great depression and what results from the story. Gender roles are a prevalent theme in the story. Through the characters dialogue and Scout's narration, Miss Maudie is characterized as a modern women while aunt Alexandra is characterized by her adherence to tradition.
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)....
Jem is Scout's brother. He is a little older than Scout. He also becomes familiar with the prejudice of Maycomb County through the story. In addition, he grows up like most teenagers “He was difficult to live with, inconsistent, moody” “said Scout” (pg. #). That statement is made when Jem starts to grow up. He doesn’t want to play with Scout like a little kid anymore. He wants to be a man.