The novel To Kill a Mockingbird teaches many good lessons about people. In this book, Jem and Scout are able to witness everyday situations in which people are not treated the same or do not have the same way of life. The children get to see and understand the Tom Robinson trial. They also see how other people lives are different from theirs, including the lives of the Cunningham’s, the Ewell’s, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. The children are also able to make their own opinions about most of the situations that they see.
The book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee tells the story of Jean Louis Finch, nicknamed Scout. She lives in a small town called Maycomb county. The book is based in the 1930s showing us an inside look of what life looked like back then. The book focuses in the stories of Arthur Radley and Tom Robinson, and how they are a major part in her childhood. The book To Kill a Mockingbird portrays Scout as more intellectually developed than most young kids, but she is way too young to fully comprehend the severity of things, and this shows us that kids unconsciously follow the ‘rules’ that society has placed unless taught otherwise.
At the beginning, the children cannot even go near Boo’s place without palpitation, but at the end, Scout is comfortable enough to walk Boo up to his front porch. Throughout the novel, Scout has changed her view of Boo after a chain of Boo’s actions toward her. As Scout grows older, she becomes wiser to understand her father’s lesson, “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 ” (39). Her father says this at the beginning, but till the end, thanks to the maturity combined with Boo’s actions that help Scout to understand it. She has matured enough to realize that people should not judge other people by rumor, but give them some chances to prove themselves.
In the opening chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird one character introduced who is strikingly interesting is Calpurnia. Calpurnia is considered a mother figure for Jem and Scout; always getting onto them is they misbehave. We observe this when Scout says “she always ordering me out of the kitchen, asking why I couldn't behave as well as Jem.” Calpurnia also respects others no matter their origin or race. This is portrayed after Scout scorned Walter for pouring molasses all over his food.
Can a fictional novel be a symbolic representation of the horrors of real life society? In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch is a little girl in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama who is telling her adventurous story from when she was a child. The novel takes place in the 1930’s in a town where everybody knows everybody and has deep rooted Southern values. Throughout the story, Scout, her brother Jem, and their best friend Dill grow up and deal with everything that is thrown at them. They soon have bigger problems than rude teachers or peculiar neighbors when Jem and Scout’s father, Atticus, takes a case defending a black man accused of rape.
Harper Lee portrays childhood as curious and innocent, but also the “more real” aspects of growing up; the fear, the stupidity, and the flaws. The meaning of To Kill A Mockingbird is, childhood plays an extremely large role in a person’s life, and it shapes one’s views, and goals in their future. Times that Lee represents the importance of childhood are when; Scout is curious about Boo (Arthur) Radley, when Scout and Jem sneak into the courtroom, and when Scout walks Boo Radley home.
She is also the one narrating the entire story to us. Scout in the story as narrated by her adult self is 6 years old at the beginning of the book and 9 years old at the end of the book. Scout is describe to be a little tomboyish as she has short hair and likes to rough house with her brother, Jem and future partner Dill to act boyish and tough. She also gets annoyed when her brother say things like "... you're gettin' more like a girl every day!"
After Scout’s encounters that day; she is introduced to the harsh reality that is Maycomb County. It became oblivious her experiences matured her: “ As I made my way home I felt very old… Jem and I would get grown but there wasn’t much for us to learn” (Lee 375). Scout’s innocence is corrupted by the town’s ways. Scout begins to grasp the horror in reality.
Before going to school, Scout would read lots of books for days on end in her treehouse with Jem, showing her intellect is above her grade level. Paragraph 19 emphasizes on Scout’s kind heart by talking about Maycomb’s social family hierarchy. This system claims that the Finches would hate Cunninghams, but Scout was kind enough to fall out of this hierarchy and become friends with Mr. Underwood’s son, Walter Cunningham. Paragraph 35 covers a moment when Scout had a childish moment, but still was smart during the event. Scout got into a physical fight with Jem, but
Scout is a very intelligent girl from birth and shows it throughout the novel. She learns to read before she even starts school, which angers her teacher due to an advantage over the other students. Scout is as intelligent as she is because of the way Atticus raised her. For being so young, she comes to understand big concepts quickly. For example, Atticus references the killing of a mockingbird early in the novel and Scout brings is back in conversation in the second to last chapter.
The Mighty Little Scout Did you grow up in a racist community where the blacks and whites did not get along at all? To Kill a Mockingbird is by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is about how 2 children are growing up in a very racist community.
Scout Grows Up Throughout this novel Scout matures when she and Jem go through the trial about Tom Robinson, and Scout sees how Boo Radley has changed how she thinks about and views people. “I told Jem if that was so, then why didn’t tom’s jury, made up of folks like the Cunningham’s, acquit Tom spite the Ewells?” (Lee 226). In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout transforms from gullible and naive to mature and she starts to get an understanding of what’s happening around her.
“The innocence of children is what makes them stand out, as a shining example to the rest of mankind” - Kurt Chambers. Likewise, In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, the narrator Jean Louise Finch, formerly known as “Scout’’ narrates her childhood experiences in an innocent kid's perspective. She begins retelling the story from the age of five and as a result the narrative voice used in the story is very naive. As Scout sees the injustices in her community occur, she uses the limited amount of knowledge she has of the world, her life experiences and her father's teachings/morals to fill in the blanks and try to understand the events that are taking place. It is evident that Scout is at too young of an age to fully comprehend racism and it’s impact on society.
The name of the novel being explored is 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1950's in Alabama Maycomb during the racist times towards the blacks. Throughout this topic the focus is on the main character/narrator Scout (Jan Louise Finch). This essay will explore Scout's character and the negative and or positive influence she has on other characters at the start, throughout and at the end of the text. At the beginning of the novel 'To kill a Mockingbird' Scout is a naïve, has a very tomboy like personality, is a judgmental five year-old girl who was oblivious to the cruelty's of the outside world.
Harper Lee’s book, “To Kill A Mockingbird” portrays Scout (Jean Louis) Finch as a tomboy who prefers attacking opponents, over using her mental acumen. However, several instances in the book show her gradually flourishing into a mature young lady. Scout displays acts of courage and empathy as will be delineated in this essay. It is said that courage is the ability to do something that frightens one.