A young girl who realizes the truth of society. A mature father who fixes the wrongs of society. A misjudged man who doesn’t realize how society has judged him. Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by Harper Lee, prejudice and discrimination occurs in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. As social injustice continues to spread during the civil rights movement, the main character, Jean Louise Finch also known as Scout, is exposed to racism as she sees multiple unjust situations happen right before her eyes -- causing her to mature and come of age. In the final chapter of the novel, Scout has her most important coming of age lesson as she finally understands the wrongs of how society treats others because of an an innocent and …show more content…
To begin with the most important literary element, throughout the whole story and Chapter 31, the motif of considering others perspective before judging them is shown, to develop the coming of age theme. Starting off, at the very beginning of the book, after coming home from school, Scout complains to her father, Atticus, that she didn’t like her teacher because she told Scout to stop reading and learning new things from Atticus. Afterwards, Atticus introduces this motif to teach her but she was too young to understand its meaning, “ ‘First of all,’ he said, ‘if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you reconsider things from his point of view. . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,’ ” (p.39). When Atticus had given Scout this advice, she didn’t really understand because of her innocence and still believes that what she thinks is right. Atticus had known this but still told her so she can think about as she matures, since it was a very important lesson to …show more content…
First of all, in the beginning of the novel Scout and other people had not seen and known Boo Radley had judged him to be a crazy person that committed many crimes. However, when Scout finally meets Boo Radley he was not the person the rumors had described him to be; Boo’s innocent voice is shown through his simple yet purposeful diction and a naive tone as he speaks to Scout, “He was still holding my hand and he gave no sign of letting me go. ‘Will you take me home?’ He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child afraid of the dark” (p.372). The simple words in the phrase “Will you take me home?” shows his innocence and that he hadn’t had enough education to speak more maturely like an adult he was. Boo’s innocent voice also has a naive tone and sounded like something a young child would say -- proving the theme that coming of age involves looking past society's misjudgements and seeing the truth of people from their perspective, since Boo was very different in person than what society had labeled him as. Moving on, Scout’s innocent voice at the beginning of the novel was shown as she had not matured yet to think that Boo Radley might be a different person that the rumors she had heard. Despite that,
Scout a six-year-old girl also known as Jean Louise narrates the book to kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Being a tomboy at heart comes at a cost. Scout works hard not to "act like a girl" by wearing overalls instead of dresses and beating up other children who provoke her because of her ways. She learns a lot of life lessons and becomes a stronger character throughout the book. Growing up in a small southern town, you get to know everyone after a while, being a little six-year-old make scout very curious minded, in wanting to know everything that’s going on.
Characters in a book not only tell the story, but teach the reader a lesson. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, is one of the major characters. She is meant to open the eyes of readers to their overlooked mothers. Throughout the story, she matures greatly because of the women in her life, such as Calpurnia, her Aunt Alexandra, and Miss Maudie. In this novel, Scout teaches all readers the lesson about how important it is to have a motherly figure in your life; she does so through possessing the traits of being curious, tomboy, and hot-tempered.
In the beginning of the book, Scout seems to be very cautious of him and perhaps even a bit scared. The way she described Boo Radley was that he “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” (13). Scout and everyone else in Maycomb saw him as a monster.
Atticus had said it was the polite thing to talk to people about what they were interested in, not about what you were interested in." (154 Lee). This is revealing the significant amount of intelligence and sophistication Scout possesses. Atticus provided her with this proper knowledge
Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird is about a little girl who experience many outcasts in her life. The story take place in a small Alabama town during the great depression. This was also a time where many Caucasian disliked African Americans. Jean Louise Finch “Scout” is a young girl who grows up in Maycomb. The book uses Mockingbird as a symbol for outcast.
Scout later reflects on her treatment of Boo remembering Atticus’s advice which was that “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.” and Scout thinks that “Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.” showing that she was able to see his point of view and change her own opinions. When Boo asks Scout to lead him home, he does so “in the voice of a child afraid of the dark.” which contrasts with the children’s fear of him at the beginning of the novel, using a metaphor to indicate his shyness. This helps Scout
“Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough." (p. ). In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the reader is shown various ways in which Scout has matured and grown.
Coming of Age: Boo Radley Coming of age is an event that occurs in everyone 's life. Coming of age happens in a different place and a different time in everyone 's life. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, coming of age is an important thing that happens to most characters in the book such as Arthur Radley, or otherwise known as Boo Radley in the book. Boo Radley is one of the biggest mysteries in To Kill A Mocking, for Boo is only talked about by people who don’t know what happened to him, although throughout the story Scout and Jem come to understand him more because he has taken a liking to the children.
The book “To Kill a Mockingbird” is set in the first point of view of Scout Finch and her view of the people and world around her. Harper Lee confines the reader to her outlook and thoughts throughout the story. In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” she characterizes the main character Scout Finch as a stubborn and curious child. We are introduced to the other characters and setting from her perspective, such as Atticus, who she describes as a wise and truthful father who she looks up to, and the town of Maycomb, which she thinks is a tired old town that never changes.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point… until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it ” (Lee 39). To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a story about equality, whether that be in gender, race, age, or social standard. A story that shows growth and understanding within the characters of problems that still take effect till this day. This story is set during the Great Depression, in the small, quiet southern town of Maycomb, Alabama. A place where people resent blacks and are judged upon their status quo or family history.
With the help of her friends, family, and many others in Maycomb county, Scout is able to understand how to show empathy and compassion. Scout starts as a young, naive little girl who is uneducated on many topics, including empathy, to a young lady who understands a lot more about her town, and how to treat the people of Maycomb. Watching the experiences and challenges Scout faces, the readers of To Kill a Mockingbird are able to grow and learn along side Scout. The readers can also understand how to climb into the skin of others and hopefully put these lessons into action. To Kill a Mockingbird is referred to as a ‘timeless classic’ because the lessons and meaning of the novel never grow old.
Atticus tells her that she needs to walk in somebody else’s skin to understand them and have empathy “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”. Later Scout really understands what Atticus really meant. She thinks about what she would’ve done in Jem’s shoes. In the text after Atticus talks to her about how she should think of why she was excluded from Jem’s point of view.
In chapter 3, Atticus tries to make the point clear to Scout that she should not judge others based on their actions by saying, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around it” (Lee 85). This shows how human beings should not judge others until they have experienced and gone through the same thing as that
Atticus’s Quote Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is changed the most not by one of the themes of the novel, but by a quote from Atticus. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, revolves around the quote Atticus says about how you really don’t understand a person until you see it from their perspective. This is important to the novel because this quote helps Scout develop and grow into a better character. Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout develops and grows into a better character because of Atticus’s quote, “‘First of all,” he said, “if you can learn a simple trick Scout, you’ll gt along a lot better with all kinds of folks.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Jean “Scout” Louise Finch is greatly influenced by the world around her. The novel is written in the 1930’s in a time period of injustice, segregation, and the Great Depression. In Maycomb County, Scout lives with her brother, Jem, her father, Atticus, and their maid, Calpurnia. Atticus is a lawyer who is assigned a case to defend Tom Robinson, an African-American man, accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a 19 year old girl. Scout’s character traits are greatly influenced because of the trial and everything she learns from it.