Growing up is a difficult task. This is true especially Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Using many examples of the loss of childhood innocence, Lee shows us that a corrupted society leads to growing up faster and one’s childhood being stripped away. Through Jem, the eldest of the Finch children, and Scout, the youngest, the readers see how a trial in 1930s Alabama takes a toll on young minds. Jem and Scout grow up more than expected when their summer consists of nothing but a racist trial. In Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she implies that growing up leads to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.
Jem is old enough now to understand what he sees going on around him in Maycomb. Mr. Nathan Radley plugs a hole in Jem and Scout’s tree and explains to them that you do that when a tree is dying, but Atticus tells them that the tree isn’t dead. When Jem hears this, he starts crying. Scout narrates, “He stood there until nightfall, and I waited for him. When we went in the house I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him” (84). His tears symbolize a certain loss of innocence when he realizes that Mr. Radley plugged up that hole to keep them from communicating with Boo. Tears are water, and water is pure. Pure is also a word used to describe a child’s innocence. Scout describes that she, “saw he (Jem) had been crying” and justified it with, his face
…show more content…
She proves this many times throughout the novel. She shows that Jem is struggling with the verdict of the trial and how he handles it. She also shows how Scout is growing up and trying her best to look at the world through another person’s eyes. Both Jem and Scout lose innocence in different ways throughout the novel. Lee proves that through showing her readers that troubling times lead to the stripping away of childhood
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. Jem recognizes a different perspective of bravery from Mrs.Dubose, a vile, elderly woman’s perspective. In chapter 11, Harper Lee uses literary elements such as character, conflict, and setting to establish Jem’s new outlook on life.
...heme of maturation in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is conveyed through the characters of Scout and Jem, in conjunction with the assistance of their virtuous father Atticus Finch. Early in the novel, Atticus ascertains himself as a major facilitator in the maturation process of Scout and Jem by incessantly providing mature solutions to his children’s predicaments. Moreover, Scout, a major benefactor of the Boo Radley incident and Atticus’ wisdom, has helped her develop into a very tolerant and mature individual. Undeniably, Jem’s remarkable development into a broadminded and compassionate character can be directly attributed to Atticus’ kindness and Jem’s exposure to the Tom Robinson trial. In synopsis, it is evident that the individuals and social circumstances that surround an individual play a major role in defining the type of individual one will become.
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.
Childhood is a continuous time of learning, and of seeing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone no matter what they might look like on the outside. To Kill A Mockingbird tells a story about two young kids named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch growing up in their small, racist town of Maycomb, Alabama. As the years go by they learn how their town and a lot of the people in it aren’t as perfect as they may have seemed before. When Jem and Scout’s father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town’s imperfections begin to show. A sour, little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout all because of the help Atticus gave to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their appearance on the outside, or belittle someone because they are different.
They begin to understand how judgemental people are and how it affects their views on others. With this information, Scout and Jem learn to decide what they believe according to evidence and facts. For example, while they are watching the case, Jem thinks that Atticus is winning, however from Scout’s point of view it says, “I didn’t think so: Atticus was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr. Ewell could have beaten up Mayella.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells the story of the struggle of a white family facing discrimination for defending a black man. Scout and Jem are two young children living in Maycomb, believing that everyone is like their father, Atticus, who embodies justice and equality. Atticus takes on the case of defending Tom Robinson, a man who is being charged with raping a white woman.Before the trial, the Finches are forced to withstand torment from the townspeople. Their beliefs are shaken when a black man is given a rigged trial and he is innocent. In the end of the book, Scout and Jem are viciously assaulted by the accuser, Bob Ewell. The man that they had been so curious about, Boo Radley, comes to their rescue and saves them. Coming of age means growing up. Growing up involves maturely handling difficult situations and gaining wisdom from them. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows Jem and Scout coming of age through the events that force them to mature quickly.
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
As children we are oblivious to the influence of those who surround us . We chose to see the greater good in humanity rather than the obvious truth. We are influenced by our environment and choose to abide to the morals presented to us. This applies directly to the novel to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which moves along with the lives of two young children ;Scout and Jem. Along with the obstacles they face and the exposure they have to the ideas of racism, gender roles, and degenerate morals. Throughout the novel it is evident that Scout and Jem go from naïveté to maturity due to their surroundings, influence of family members, and the arising controversy of the Tom Robinson case. They both develop
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character and narrator, Scout Finch, embarks on her own adventure throughout her childhood years to learn more about the world around her as well as herself. As the novel progresses, she continues her process of coming of age as she faces troubles, explore new areas, and interacts with her community. On her journey Scout grows and matures, realizing who she is and how she feels about her place in the world. Harper Lee masterfully represents the challenges in the coming of age process through Scout. Thus, through transformative conflicts, symbolic setting, and a critical first person narration, Lee reveals how as one grows up, one must face the injustices and normalities
Jem becomes more mature by discovering the evil in the world when the hole in the Radley tree is filled in and when Tom Robinson is convicted by the jury. Also, his respect for his family is strengthened after his father shoots the mad dog, and when he and Scout are attacked. Finally, through Atticus’s determination to help Tom, and the reading Jem is forced to do for Mrs. Dubose, Jem’s maturity considerably increases when he learns the genuine value of bravery. As Jem’s thoughts change throughout these events, so does the way he views life. His innocence is lifted, and he matures first in respect to his family, and later to other people in his life. He is influenced by his thoughts and he shows his maturity through his actions. Jem’s example shows that the events one experiences in life will shape the kind of person they become. The more one experiences, the more he or she will develop, whether or not it is for the
Most would argue that Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird is an uplifting story about hope and youth. In reality, it is a sad story about two children, Jem and Scout, losing their innocence through treacherous life experience. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming of age story about childhood in the deep south during the great depression. It speaks about the concepts of racism, innocence and justice as the protagonists, Scout and Jem, struggle with coming of age. The Finch children lose their innocence throughout the book in many ways, such as being involved with the trial, the lynch mob, and Bob Ewell's death. At it’s core, TKAM is a story about youth, and the loss thereof. When Scout and Jem are involved in the lynch mob, they lose their
Jems naïve views are soon corrupted as he goes through experiences like with Boo Radley, but Jem manages to grow in strength as he sheds his pure qualities and learns to have hope. Jem and Scouts childhood friend Dill represents another killing of a mockingbird, as his innocence is destroyed during his trial experience. Scouts childish views dissipates as she witnesses different events in her life, and she grows in experience and maturity as she encounters racial prejudice, making her learn how to maintain her pure conscience that Atticus has developed without losing hope or becoming cynical. Harper Lee’s novel explores human morality, as she weaves the path from childhood to a more adult perspective, illustrating the evils in a corrupt world how to understand them without losing
Growing up is hard, but when you add in nosey neighbors, scary houses, a stuck up aunt, and taunting children, it becomes more difficult. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee that was published in 1960. The story takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Scout Finch is a six year old narrator. She lives with her father, her brother, and Calpurnia, their black cook. Scout spends her summers playing with her brother, Jem, and her friend, Dill Harrison. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is a lawyer and he is defending Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. The story is an account of the next three years of Scout’s life in Maycomb. Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, it takes a couple years for Scout Finch to grow and mature into an understanding, empathetic, polite, young lady.
Harper Lee, used language features to explore the loss of innocence in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. The novel is narrated from a 6 year old’s perspective, Scout. As the story progressed, Scout matured and the language used and the thoughts portrayed throughout the book were more developed and advanced. The key theme displayed in this novel is loss of innocence and is explored through the following language features – Narrative Voice and Structure, Characterisation and Symbolism and Analogy. Lee’s personal style allowed the utilisation of these language features and through the exploration of loss of innocence.
Jem learns of innocence and wants to care for and help the innocent because Tom Robinson was innocent but the jury easily said guilty. Scout sees a roly-poly and wants to mash it but Jem replies with “’because they don’t bother you”’. This shows how Jem has grown because he wants to protect the roly-poly because it did no harm just like Tom Robinson did no harm. This incident also displays how Jem is starting to turn into Atticus by defending the innocent and standing up for his viewpoints that are different than others. Jem sees that the evidence points towards Tom being innocent but when he is guilty Jem questions if there should even be a jury if it isn’t fair but Atticus says if there is no jury than no defense, judge, or any other place on a jury and Jem learns that life isn’t always fair and you just have to live with it. Atticus shows Jem a new meaning of courage and teaches him something new by defending Tom Robinson even though no one else did. Atticus did this because it was the right thing to do and nobody else had the courage to do it. Jem grows up to mirror Atticus by thinking in a similar way and gaining the courage to stand up for what he believes in against opposition and judgment even if everyone else seems to be against