To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee. It is about a young girl growing up and dealing with day to day life in a rural Alabama town. This young girl’s name is Scout, and throughout the book, her character changes a lot. Two areas of change would be her understanding of the people around her and manners.
At the beginning of the novel, Scout’s understanding of the people around her is lacking. She lives in a sheltered lifestyle, usually only interacting with Jem, Atticus, and Calpurnia. When Scout arrives at school for Grade 1, she meets Miss Caroline. She does not understand that Miss Caroline’s is a new teacher, and tries explaining Walter Cunningham’s actions just by saying “He’s a Cunningham.” (Page 20) At home, Atticus explains
…show more content…
When the children try and sneak a peek at Boo Radley, it ends with Nathan Radley firing his shotgun and Jem losing his pants. Jem does not talk much after the incident, and this time Scout tries following Atticus’ advice and puts herself in Jem’s shoes. This shows that she is trying to understand Jem’s actions by following Atticus' advice. At the Finch Landing, Francis calls Atticus a nigger lover and Scout chases after him. When he flees into the kitchen, Scout tells readers that “When stalking one’s prey, it is best to take one’s time. Say nothing, and as sure as eggs he will become curious and emerge.” (Page 83) This demonstrates an ability to understand how other people will react to her actions, which she hasn’t shown before. At the very end of the novel, after meeting Boo Radley, Scout tells Atticus that convicting Boo Radley of Mr. Ewell’s murder would be like killing a mockingbird. She knows the situation Boo would be in, had he been convicted, and realizes the repercussions. Afterwards, Scout realizes that Maycomb would perceive Scout walking Boo home as something not socially acceptable. Therefore, she makes the situation look like Boo is walking Scout home. This shows an awareness of not just an individual, but society in general. When they reach the porch, and Boo goes back inside, Scout sees all of the events of the novel from Boo’s perspective. With events like these, Scout becomes more aware of the situations she is
Personal beliefs are shaped by perspective. In order to change someone’s opinion, their point of view has to be altered. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee shows the change in Scout Finch’s beliefs as she matures and her perspective changes. We can see this when Scout evaluates Walter Cunningham’s different way of life at her supper table, when she starts to witness the social inequalities in Maycomb, Alabama during Tom Robinson's trial, and when she learned the truth about her childhood monster, Boo Radley. While Walter Cunningham sat at the Finch’s table for Dinner, Scout, who had previously beat him up that day, was furious because he was the reason her teacher Miss Caroline punished her for the first time.
This just proves that she is indeed thinking like a child and still hasn't completely figured out growing up. After mentioning how scout heard everything while she was sleeping and how the book was “ real nice.” Atticus comments “most people are, scout, when you finally see them.” “Like Boo?”. Scout is being sarcastic and is subtly telling atticus she finally understands what he meant.
Our world is constantly changing through advances in technology and in medicine. Just like Scout in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Throughout the novel Scout grows up to become a young lady, learns through her experiences and from her father. One instance that Scout learns to become a better person is in chapter 11, page 49 of the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In chapter 11 is says, “I wanted you to see something about her-I wanted you to see what real courage is…”
This is shown when Scout and Jem are trying to get the attention of Boo Radley, their neighbor, who hasn't been seen since he was a teenager. Atticus feels as though these actions were wrong and decides to stand up for Boo. For example, on page 65, Atticus says, “I'm going to tell you something and tell you one time: stop tormenting that man.” In this quote, Atticus is trying to get his children to leave Boo alone and let him be. Furthermore, this comment reveals that Atticus cares for Boo Radley in the sense that he understands how being picked on might make him feel.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel about the child hood of a young girl named Jean Louise Finch. It is about the struggles she faced growing up with racial circumstances in the Southern United States. She is often her referred to as Scout Finch through the novel. Scout lives with her brother Jem and their father Atticus in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Maycomb is a small town where everybody knows everybody.
Scout is a very outspoken girl throughout the book. This is obvious to see in (lee 112) “ she called me a whore lady and jumped on me, is that true scout, said uncle jack. I reckson so.” Scout is in trouble she does not care she still chooses to smart off. Another way
To Kill A Mockingbird , and Mendez v. Westminster are two very different stories. They both have different meanings and different things that they talk about in their stories. Then they have some similarity. They both have a cause and effect, but most of all they both have some Coming Of Age.
If not for the major characters, the minor characters have played an equally important role in Maycomb with their contrasting views. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is mainly about Jem and Scout growing up under the difficult situations created in Alabama during The Great Depression. Stereotypes and discrimination are major problems in Maycomb. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by Atticus, with the help of Calpurnia, their maid. In the first part of the book, Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley because of the rumors they hear about him, and they try everything to make him come out of his house.
When Jem and Scout were coming home from the pageant and were attacked by Mr.Ewell, Boo rescues them and kills Bob Ewell in the process. Scout appreciates his actions because Boo saves her brother. When Atticus discusses turning Boo in, Scout says, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). Boo makes the right decision by saving Scout and Jem and he does not mean to cause any harm.
Scout changed a lot over the course of this story. She was exposed to many events that led to her gradually changing her way of life. She doesn’t change as much as Jem does or as fast as him, but she still changes. She learns to mature, understand things better, and treat people with respect.
Overtime, Scout realizes that they are just disrupting Boo, and decides to stop trying to lure him outside. She almost completely forgets about Boo, until he saves both her and Jem from Mr. Ewell who was attacking them. When Scout first saw Boo, she teared up, since she only fantasized about that very moment. Curiosity struck Scout and her
Scout is already wise beyond her years, but she continues to grow throughout a series of events in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The most important thing about Scout is her growth throughout events in the book. The context of To Kill A Mockingbird influenced Scout to change her identity and morality throughout her experiences with stereotypes and racism in Maycomb. The first way that Scout changed was by seeing and experiencing stereotypes in gender.
These stories develop a fearful curiosity of Boo, a fake identity one that barely reflects the poor man. However, as Scout grew up she ceased being scared of Boo, in place of this feeling she felt sorry for him and near the end of chapter 14 Scout and Dill come to the conclusion that the only reason Boo had never run off is because he had nowhere to run off to (157). Then later when she is on her way she admits that the Radley place has “ceased to terrify me” (263) she also defends Boo by saying that “Boo doesn’t mean anybody harm” (277) A statement which she most likely could not prove, but one she believes. Then finally, near the end of the book, her feelings change dramatically when she goes onto his porch and stands in his shoes where she ‘sees’ herself grow
Scout also discriminates against people before she gets to know them. Throughout the beginning of the text Scout is naive, this makes her oblivious to the cruelty's of the world. Scouts naivety is preliminary because of her young age, we can see this when she says “No, everybody's gotta learn, nobody's born knowin'. That Walter's as smart as he can be, he just gets held back sometimes because he has to stay out and help his daddy. Nothing's wrong with him.
The way the people and the town influence Jem and Scout make the characters more realistic and the overall story much more interesting. To Kill a Mockingbird is an exceptional novel that conveys many positive messages throughout. In her novel, Lee creates honest and relatable characters that take the reader on a journey through life in the south during the Great Depression. Readers are impressed by Lee’s eloquent writing and amazing characters, all of which make To