Innocence is defined as the state of being not guilty of a crime or other wrong act. The definition does not have any exceptions depending on race, age, gender or other physical characteristics. Yet in the south, the innocence of a guilty white man, is more important than the innocence of an innocent black man. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is about a young girl named Scout who lives in Maycomb County, Alabama. The novel is separated into two parts, the first part is about the adventures of Boo Radley. While the second part is about the trial of Tom Robinson. In the first part of the novel, Scout along with her brother Jem and her friend Dill investigate the mysterious life of their neighbor, Boo Radley. Boo has not left
Boo Radley is the next door neighbor of the Finch’s. He is an outsider of the community, because he does not leave the house. He got in some trouble as a teenager, so his father locked him up inside the house. After his father died, his brother moved in with him. While Boo was locked up inside is house, the people of Maycomb County made up stories about him. The legend of Boo Radley was well-known to the people of Maycomb. Jem describes Boo, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (Lee ). Boo is an innocent character because all he does stay inside his own house, and does not bother anybody. Yet the entire town believes that he could be a murderer. Harper Lee is showing that if you do not fit into southern society, they will make you into an outsider and a bad legend. Another example of Boo Radley being an innocent character is when he gives a blanket to Scout. Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of the Finch’s neighbors, had a house fire. Atticus (Scout and Jem’s father) woke up the kids and made them go outside, in case the fire spread to their house. While Scout was not looking someone gave her a blanket, “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.’”(Lee ). Boo Radley is an innocent character because he helped warm up Scout in the cold, yet Scout was still scared that Boo had been near here. Harper Lee is showing us that Boo could do a nice thing, and yet Scout would still be scared because of his reputation. Finally, another
The illusion of innocence is deeply instilled in the outlook of children. Reality soon takes its grip as kids begin to grow and mature, and they lose their pure qualities that they have once possessed. Their father Atticus shelters Jem and Scout from the town’s disease, teaching them the act of sympathy and how to distinguish the good aspects over glaring at the imperfections of people. The loss of innocence portrayed in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is exposed as the lives of Jem, Scout, and Dill go through their racist and prejudice society, learning how the worlds dreamlike qualities is nothing more than just a childhood fable. The children’s judgment of people and society quickly sheds as Lee displays the harsh realities to Jem, Dill,
The power of childhood innocence reveals more about one another than meets the eye of any other mortal. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee creates the unfair rape trial of Tom Robinson to shed light upon how the power of childhood innocence reveals the true evils of the scene. Through the eyes of a child named Scout and the focus on two other child protagonists, Dill and Jem, expose the way a child views the world versus the way an adult views the world. Harper Lee focuses upon the characterization of Scout, Dill, and Jem to present the idea that childhood innocence sees the true evils of society through a non-judgmental lens whilst shielding them from the harsh reality.
Boo Radley, also known as Arthur Radley, is the scary, evil creature that lives in the creepy old house down the street from Jem and Scout, and is misjudged at first. Jem and Scout, two main characters, first see Boo as some sort of scary monster. Jem described him in the first chapter as “...six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks...” and said “...he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off...” Jem also mentioned Boo had a “...long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” Scout and Jem also call Boo a “...malevolent phantom...” As if that isn't bad enough, the kids hear and tell horrible stories about Boo. One is of how he stabbed his dad with a pair of scissors; another tells how he was locked up in the courthouse basement. Even with such a grisly initial perception at the beginning of...
A child’s journey to adulthood will corrupt their innocence. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the two main characters Jem and Scout are forced to grow up and face the realities of their world as their father prepared for one of the most controversial cases in his career. As the trial date gets closer and closer, Jem and Scout witnessed negative and positive things caused by the folks of Maycomb, they were not prepared for. Through all the commotion Jem and Scout learned the importance of benevolence and courage as it influenced their changing perspective on the world. The qualities Jem and Scout learn from benevolence and courage change how they see their world by showing them fairness, kindness and bravery.
Among the many plots within the story, many of them surround Boo Radley or attempting to have Boo Radley come out of his house. In these stories show Jem, Scout, and Dill are terrified of the Radley house and what be inside. However, they are mistaken, for Boo Radley wants to do the exact opposite of scaring the children. For example, Boo tries to show friendship to Scout and Jem by leaving them gifts in the tree outside of his house. These gifts include dolls, gum, a knife, a watch, etc. Boo also is thought to have wrapped Scout in a blanket during the chapter in which Miss Maudie’s house had burned down. Boo Radley is thought to have done it because Atticus says “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Lee 96) supporting the fact that Boo Radley was looking out for Scout. Lastly, Boo Radley saved Scout and Jem when they were attacked by Bob Ewell. This heroic effort was not only full of care, but also, full of
Loss of Innocence in Killing a Mockingbird Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather, the streets turned red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square. " (Lee 9). This environment, as Scout Finch accurately describes, is not conducive to young children, loud noises, and games. But, the Finch children and Dill must occupy themselves in order to avoid boredom.
They have many misconceptions of people, places, and concerts in Maycomb county. However as they are young and don't really have opinions themselves. They abide by those presented them. At the start of the novel Scout and Jem see Mr. Arthur Radley or "Boo", as a dangerous, crazy, and rather isolated man. Although never being in his presence or in association with him they always make assumptions about him. They constantly pestered his household and played games that mocked him, "..time to play Boo's big scene...steal the scissors...Jem would fake plunge into Dill's thigh..."(LEE40).They also had the misconception that Boo was kept inside forcefully by his family. Boo was also blamed for unresolved events. As time goes by they mature and start to develop more of an understanding of Boo, "..I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in his house all this time...he wants to stay inside"(LEE227). Jem develops an understanding as to why Boo Radley stays inside. It's not because his family forces him to stay inside. He realizes that when living in a town like Maycomb, there is an incredible amount of judgement and labeling that occurs. It becomes evident to him that Boo has no place and isn't welcomed into the society. Especially with having a stereotype "glued" to his identity. Scout then has an
In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of coming-of-age and the loss of innocence through the character Jem. Through recurring events, Jem is faced with the realization of society’s injustice, and is left questioning the world he lives in. During a time of rampant racial discrimination and prejudice in the south, Jem transforms from naivety to maturity.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Theme of Innocence & nbsp; & nbsp; Innocence is a time when a person has never done something, it is the first step in the theme of innocence to experience. The second step in the movement from innocence to experience, is experience. This step is what is achieved after a person or thing has done something they have never done before or learns something they have never known before. The theme of growth from innocence to experience occurs many times in the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This process is one of the central themes in the first eleven chapters of this book, because it shows how Scout and Jem change and mature. & nbsp;
Loss of Innocence is portrayed very well throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates how the characters think they’re equal but eventually lose their innocence very quickly. To Kill a Mockingbird demonstrates how the son of Atticus and the brother of Scout, Jem witnesses the trail of the only black man, Tom Robinson. From then on out, Jem realizes that the world and his town isn’t anything what he thought it was. Jem also knew that people turned out to be nothing what he thought in the beginning. Jem thought everyone was good and innocent just like his father Atticus, but that slowly started to change. Atticus once said, “ You never really understand the person until you consider things from his point of view.” (31) Little did he know the theme, Loss of Innocence would hit in the town in Maycomb, which was supposed to be a wonderful place. Jem realizes that Tom is punished for something that he didn’t even do. It was also brave of Jem to side with a black man, because no one in Maycomb, Alabama sides with a black person or an African American. That...
In the struggle of good against evil, the quality of innocence is often lost to stronger forces. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee demonstrates that innocence is a much weaker quality than in other towns. People in Maycomb will gather for a prosecution of a black man like it is a circus fair. Yet children, such as Jem, can still live in have fantasies that everything is fair. Yet the children’s innocence disappears when something such as racism in court makes itself apparent. The entire Jury voted Tom Robinson guilty when the Jury knew Tom was innocent. The only person who has not lost that innocence is Boo Radley. Boo is a man who has lived his adult years in his house, Having rumors spread about him due to Boo getting in trouble with a gang when he was younger. He hadn’t come out of his house since.
To many people, childhood is a period of their lives when they can connect with their true self, being completely happy and carefree. Although, at some point, children mature and “grow up”, whether it happens over time or because of a specific event. This theme is prevalent in literature, especially in The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, and the film Stand By Me, directed by Rob Reiner, and based on the novel by Stephen King. Each of these literary works teaches the audience what it means to lose childhood innocence through three major points. They all display a character who is forced to mature because of a specific event, and they also realize the harshness and reality of the world.
In To Kill a Mockingbird there are characters that are pure and innocent.Those characters are Scout, Jem, and Dill who was very innocent and have not seen the world they way it is. Their innocence is show when they are playing the Boo Radley game "what are you playing?...What are you doing with those scissors?....Does this have anything to do with the Radleys?" (Lee). That quote show how the children are fascinated with Boo Radley and how they are entertaining themselves by playing games about Boo Radley. Another example of how innocent the children are is when Scout asks Walter Cunningham why he's pouring syrup all over his food. Her asking that question shows how she says the first thing that comes into her head. She does not thing about
In the case of Scout and Jem, they believed that Boo Radley, who is an outcast of Maycomb, possesses a horrific appearance, and that he is a savage, "he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained." However, as the story progresses, it is revealed that Boo is actually a kind-hearted person who has not done anybody wrong, but unfortunately, he was ruined by the hands of his family. Thus, Boo is an example of a mockingbird, as mentioned by Atticus. The disclosing of the character of Boo demonstrates Scout and Jem's loss of innocence. They can no longer see Boo as a mysterious threat in their life, instead they saw Boo as a person. "...he's crazy..but Atticus I swear to God he ain't ever harmed us, he coulda cut my throat...but he mend my pants instead..." In a way, Boo serves as a symbol of the transition of Scout and Jem's maturity, as the kids exhibit their ability to empathize with
Innocence evidently comes with birth and is kept through existence as time moves forward, but it soon becomes corrupted with specific life changing occurrences. In the film To Kill a Mockingbird directed by Robert Mulligan, which is based upon the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, there are three prominent characters in which innocence is rendered within. The three characters are Jem Finch, his sister Scout or Jean Louise Finch, and their neighbor Boo Radley or Arthur Radley. They each possess a different form of innocence because of the diverse personalities and consequently have their innocence obliterated in distinct ways. The