To some people, maturity might mean to be fully-developed physically, but for Scout Finch in To kill A Mockingbird, it serves as a whole nother meaning. Scout is an eight-year-old girl who like everyone her age loves to play games with her friends and have fun. She may still be the average third grader, but during the novel, she had and showed the the mental and emotional qualities of an adult. The story serves its purpose as a progress throughout Scout’s growth in maturity. Scout learns that people have both good and bad qualities. She learns the positives of people and how horrific the world can actually be with its racism and prejudice. Furthermore, even though Scout may be immature at times, She has matured immensely. Admittedly at the beginning of the novel, Scout disliked Atticus’ physical appearance and thought he was listless. She discussed with Jem how “Atticus was too tired to play football”, and how he was “old and feeble”. Scout was disappointed he wasn’t like “The younger fathers in Maycomb” and often complained to others how he was too old to do anything. But regardless of his figure, Scout matured significantly from Atticus’ positive influences and not only respect him, but like him. Since a child, Scout and her older brother have been treated with respect and as adults. Living at a time of white supremacy, Atticus counteracts the hateful, destructive racism She has a mature mindset that most adults in Maycomb do not nearly posses, an understanding about change needing to occur in society, and most importantly how to treat others fairly regardless of race, social class, or gender. Additionally, Scout learns to see things from other people's perspective which plays an important part in her moral development. By seeing others people’s viewpoints, as best said by Rudyard Kipling in If, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, and make allowance for their doubting
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.
...reinforcing the idea that the roles are now switched. Atticus keeps calm during most of the situations, but lets others boss him around and take control while he mainly sits and waits nearby. Scout and Jem begin to stand up for their father when he will not stand up for himself and act caring as if they were in charge of Atticus’ actions, protecting him from the evils of others. Scout supports this idea when she begins to talk very adult-like with Mr. Cunningham, especially showing her thoughtful wisdom when speaking of “entailments”. Atticus later shows that he is proud of his children for sticking up for him when he did not himself by massaging Jem’s hair in his “one gesture of affection.” So while Atticus often is being the best father figure he can to Scout and Jem, they are also very helpful to him by taking control of situations that he would not be able to.
In the beginning of the story, Jem enjoys the childish games of fantasizing about Boo Radley, taking any dare, and . Scout tells the reader that Jem becomes more and more moody as the story progresses, due to his aging. He thinks more; he shows more compassion; and he is appalled by the unfairness that rears its ugly head in his hometown. While Scout recounts the events of her childhood, the reader fails to notice that “To Kill a Mockingbird” is not a story about the narrator (Scout) maturing, it is actually about Jem maturing, and becoming an adult.
...innocence. In some sense, because of her age, Scout’s perceiving of happenings in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are more accurate, ethically speaking. Scout is reluctant to being very feminine because she wants to grow up on her own terms. She sees being feminine as a trap, and she doesn't understand that being masculine has just as many rules. When looking deep into Scout’s character traits, she has lots of morals lessons that she teaches in a roundabout way. She shows that you should not be afraid to stand up for what you believe in no matter your age, gender, or the family that you were raised in. Also, she teaches a lesson continually throughout the story that you can never be able to please everyone and sometimes you have to try very hard to stay true to yourself. The character of Scout has many lessons embedded into her actions if looked deep enough into.
Through the development of Scout’s relationship with Arthur Radley, Scout develops and becomes more empathetic. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is her most consistent role model and used by Lee as the moral compass. Atticus is a firm believer in teaching by example, and his respect of his children is such that he treats them almost as adults, emphasised in the line ‘he played with us, read with us, and treated us with courteous detachment’ pg. 6. This refusal to shelter Scout from the harsh realities of life in Maycomb allows her to learn from experience. The strong moral guidance offered by Atticus allows Scout not only to learn from experience, but also to develop her personal integrity. Atticus exemplifies his strong beliefs, as illustrated when he says ‘Shoot
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
In ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ written by Harper Lee, there is a precise sense of maturity that is shown by Jem and Finch Scout as the novel progresses. Jem and Scout Finch start to mature considerably throughout the novel once they realize what horrid things adults are capable of, get their moral strengths tested and become familiar with distinguishing right from wrong. Shaping them into the young adults they are. Growing up can mean taking on many tasks and responsibilities, being able to distinguish right from wrong, just like Scout had done on her first day of grade one when she was asked to read in front of the class but came across as showing off. “I knew I had annoyed Miss Caroline, so I let well enough alone and stared out the window until recess when Jem cut me from the covey of first-graders in the schoolyard.
For a young girl to grow up in a world of prejudice, white supremacy, and understanding what life was like for colored individuals in the 1960s was difficult because she has not fallen out of her innocence, yet. Scout Finch is a confident seven-year-old girl because her father is an honorable and intelligent individual in Maycomb.
Atticus's battle for justice causes more problems for Scout. She is continually defending him but the racist remarks do not stop. These remarks just show how cruel children can be to other children. She feels the need to defend her father to Francis, her cousin. He was also taunting her with accusations: "At a safe distance her called, `He's nothin' but a nigger-lover'." The benign force of racism has disrupted their lives, especially Scouts, through the old fashioned and discriminative opinions of the younger residents of Maycomb.
In the beginning of the story, she was very ignorant and immature to racism “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt…”(Harper Lee 30)This quote shows how immature Scout was by fighting over pointless reasons and had little things get her upset. Later on in the novel, Scout started to mature and understand the harsh realities of the world. When Tom Robinson gets arrested and sent for jail, she realizes that people are judged because the color of their skin and she states “ ...Nothin’s wrong with him. Naw,Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”( Harper Lee 304) This is where Scout really grows up and knows that should not be black or white people or rich and poor people, we should just be
In Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill A Mocking Bird” we see that maturation of some of the characters is clearly evident, particularly Scouts. We see this by the way she acts in front of Miss Maudie, Calpurnia and Mrs. Alexandra Finch.
Atticus is a great leader of his family, teaching his children morals and life lessons. He makes them better people by showing them how to deal with the trial and people making fun of them. Atticus teaches Scout how to respect other people. First, Scout learns to respect Atticus, then to respect "Boo" Radley, and finally to respect a whole race of people, negroes. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and thus displays the attributes of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Throughout the trial process, Atticus shows Jem and Scout that true courage is standing up for what you believe in and that all human beings, despite their race, deserve respect. "You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This quote shows that Atticus wants his children to get along with people, and so other people will respect them for whom they are.
...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.
Maturity is a coming of age when a person is growing emotionally and mentally. Maturity is gained by experiences and decision-making, thus learning from mistakes. This is evident in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Through characterization and symbolism Lee displays maturity. Jem Finch demonstrates growing maturity throughout the novel.
All of us grow, develop, and adapt to our surroundings according to what we see and learn. However, we don’t always only the just induce the positive values, but also adapt to the disadvantageous values, as well. To Kill a Mockingbird is a unique novel written by Harper Lee, which tells about a sophisticated family living in a small town. The focus of this book is Scout, the main character and an innocent child, and the story is presented from her perspective. The structure of the book shows the shaping of Scout’s character from innocent behavior to maturity. Scout develops her empathy and maturity throughout the book by the reflection of other characters and occurring events. The