Scout Maturation

The Process Of Maturation "Maturity comes with experience, not age."- Unknown. To Kill A Mockingbird is a coming of age novel by Harper Lee. There are many characters that undergo significant change and growth in the novel. Harper Lee illustrates the process of maturation through the characters Scout, Jem, and Dill. One of the characters that mature's is Scout. Scout evolves from a naive, immature child to a mature empathetic young woman. Scouts' immaturity can be seen in the beginning of the novel when she tells Atticus about her first day at school. After her day at school, Scout returns home and complains to Atticus about her English teacher, Miss Caroline. She reveals to Atticus how she was berated by her teacher for being able

Atticus responds to Scout by telling her something very important. He explains to her, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (39). Scout's reaction to Miss Caroline illustrates that she is extremely immature and lacks empathy. Rather than trying to understand her teacher's perspective, she becomes furious and complains. Although Scout may lack empathy in the beginning of the novel, she does learn near the end of the novel how to be more empathetic. At the end of the story while walking home with Boo Scout thinks to herself, "Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand around in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough" (374). Throughout the novel, due to rumors, Scout believes that Boo is an awful person, however, while they walk home together Scout considers Boo's perspective. Boo is isolated from everyone and has people say

Jem matures by developing compassion. When Jem tries to get Boo to come outside, he explains to Dill "It's sort of like making a turtle come out. Strike a match under him" (17). Dill responds to Jem by asking, "How do you know a match don't hurt him?" (17) and Jem states, "Turtles can't feel stupid" (18).This scene demonstrates that Jem lacks compassion, because he believes that a match would not hurt a turtle. Jem, however, changes through his devlopment of compassion. When Tom Robinson receives a guilty verdict Scout says, "I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each guilty was a separate stab between them" (282). Jem's response to the verdict allows readers to see the immense change in Jem. Previously Jem states that a match would not hurt a turtle, yet when Tom receives a guilty verdict he becomes extremely upset. Comparing Jem's conversation with Dill and his response to Tom's verdict indicates that Jem matures by gaining