Scout's Path To Maturity

Sometimes a loss of innocence through contact with evil and life experiences leads to maturity. It helps one see the world for what it really is and gives a shot of reality instead of just living in a dream world. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout’s early childhood innocence is lost as she becomes a near grown up. She starts to see Maycomb in a different light and learns to accept people as they truly are instead of what she thought they were. This is because she comes in contact with racial prejudice, Boo Radley and she real people of Maycomb.

The differences in social class and distaste between the blacks and the whites are clear in the small town of Maycomb. So clear that most of the town’s children are quickly catching on. This racial discrimination is also known as ‘Maycomb’s disease.’ When the news had gone around town about Atticus fighting for Tom Robinson, the disease got even worse. Children at school were taunting Scout telling her Atticus is a “nigger lover”. It wasn’t until Atticus said “It's never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it doesn't hurt you.” (Lee, 108) that Scout realized how discriminatory those people were. She also experiences this at Calpurnia’s church when Lula tells Calpurnia "You ain't got no business bringin' white chillun here—they got their church, we got our'n. It is our church, ain't it, Miss Cal?" (119) This is where Scout’s shift of view begins as an adult problem begins disrupting her little happy world and she realizes she can’t do much about it.

Scout and her brother Jem always run past the Radley house in fear of the man going by the name of ‘Boo Radley’ in the neighborhood. They play games a...

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... to understand Jem’s view on them as well. The very people she grew up around were killing a mockingbird without any second thoughts.

Scout learns to accept people as they truly are instead of what she thought they were and starts to see Maycomb in a different light as a result of coming in contact with racial prejudice, seeing the world from Boo Radley’s perspective, and losing her early childhood perception of Maycomb. These experiences help her grow out of her ignorance and develop an adult-like view on the problems facing her. She takes initiative to look at how Boo Radley must have felt over the past years and ask Atticus what it really meant to be called a ‘nigger lover’. These events show Scout trying to see things for what they really are, instead of what they seem to be.

Works Cited

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mocking Bird. London: Heinemann, 1960. Print.