The Environment In To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee lays out the events brewing in Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s.Throughout the novel, Maycomb is described as a small town with residents that are deep-rooted in racism and prejudice or are wrongly misjudged. For example, people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are victims of the county’s discrimination. Additionally, Harper Lee displays the theme of how your environment and experiences can significantly affect your character and maturity throughout the course of the novel with the motif of growing up. This motif is demonstrated in the children of Maycomb, Scout, Jem, and Dill who are molded through the events in the novel.

Furthermore, the narrator Scout matures slowly in the course

He is the most affected by the Tom Robinson trial out of all the other children. Jem finally matures and becomes a young adult after he witnesses the face of evil [racism and prejudice] at the trial. For example, the text states, “Jem smiled. ‘He’s not supposed to lean, Reverend, but don’t fret, we’ve won it,’ he said wisely. ‘Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard-’”(Lee 238) This depicts how Jem was confident that the jury would be morally right and their verdict will be that Tom Robinson was not guilty. At that moment Jem didn’t realize that adults beliefs blindfolded what was morally right. In chapter 22, it states, “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered…”(Lee 242) This supports how Tom’s fate hits Jem the hardest, he sees how not everyone is righteous and that their beliefs always are a step ahead of what is right. Jem doesn’t want to accept how cruel adults and society is but this is the moment where he grows up and is sculpted into a young

In that time, Harper Lee manages to demonstrate the motif of growing up and maturing. The reader soon comes to realize that the characters became who they truly are by the end of the novel through the great difficulties, of the time of triumph, and the moment of revelation that they faced. As proven, key examples of the motif are Scout, Jem, and Dill, as they lay out the theme of how your environment and experiences are able to impact one’s character. However, this statement doesn’t just stay in Maycomb, Alabama, but affects everyone in the course of their lifetime. Every choice and step someone takes can shape their character whether they acknowledge it