Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Everyone goes through life growing up and maturing. Even though Lee also emphasizes the effects of growing up leading to the loss of innocence and purity of one. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Lee implies that growing up can lead to loss of innocence, especially in troubling times.
While Scout may be the youngest in the household, she continues to show the loss of innocence. In chapter 24, Aunt Alexandra has the ladies’ group over. After Atticus comes home and shares the news about Tom’s death, Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra, even though they are affected by this sad news, act like nothing has happened. After watching the two women act like nothing had happened, Scout narrates, “I carefully picked up the tray and watched myself walk

Scout has made a connection between Boo and the mockingbird. She's understanding that if they tell the truth about who killed Mr. Ewell, if they told everyone it was Boo’s fault, his life would become a mess. He would be put back in the public eye for everyone to see after he had been hidden away for so long. Also, he killed Mr. Ewell to protect Scout and Jem, therefore making him a mockingbird figure. Finally, after things quiet down in the Finch household, Scout walks with Boo back the Radley house. After he goes inside, Scout stands on his porch for a minute and looks out at the neighborhood. Scout thinks to herself, “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” (321). This scene shows how much Scout has grown. She now understands everything that has happened in the past few years of her life. She is now a very mature young lady, which has allowed her to put herself into the shoes of someone who has been holed up for a long time, and doesn’t have any

In chapter 21, Jem, Dill, and Scout go to the courthouse to watch the trial. They watch the whole trial from the colored section. While jury was being polled, Scout notices something about Jem, “Judge Taylor was polling the jury: 'Guilty...guilty...guilty...guilty...' I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each "guilty" was a separate stab between them,” (240). This shows Jems loss of innocence because he knew that Tom wasn’t guilty, he understood that yes he would probably be convicted. But that didn’t change what would actually happen. Jem has to accept the fact that he can’t do anything to change the jurors minds. Each “stab” of the word guilty between his shoulders indicates that he is losing his innocence with each person's claim of guilty. Then in chapter 22 after the trial was over and the Finches began walking home, Scout describes, “It was Jem's turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. 'It ain't right,' he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting,” (242). This shows how Jem has lost innocence as they witness the trial. As they go through the book Jem continues to show how he’s beginning to understand how things work in a more adult like view. Here the “angry tears” symbolize how going through this trial and his new understanding of how things