To Kill A Mockingbird Adult Analysis

Harper Lee believes that younger kids, especially those not yet through primary school, have very different instinct compared to adults. They do not have the maturity to come up with multiple ways of handling situations, and often will not take the time to think about their actions before they go through with them. Children outgrow this as they mature, but it is something that takes many years, and depends thoroughly on the child. While this should be quite obvious, many times adults, younger and older, do not remember this. Throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee utilizes young character’s words and actions to show that children 's instincts are different than adults’ and mature as they age.

Regardless of whether children understand

At the same time, kids often do not understand that doing so can cause repercussions because they believe they’re doing what is right. For instance, when Scout’s first grade teacher does not understand why a student will not accept a quarter, Scout goes on to tell her “‘Ah--Miss Caroline...he’s a Cunningham’”(26). She continues to explain that the Cunninghams do not take anything from anybody. In Scout’s mind, she’s helping Miss Caroline learn about the town. She believes that she’s saving the teacher from “subsequent mortification” (28). Scout did not think before standing up to ‘educate’ Miss Caroline and did not realize that maybe it was not necessary. It was her instinct, which happens to be very common in young kids. They often do not understand that in this case, knowledge of townsfolk naturally comes over time. About a day later, another student in the class answered Miss Caroline when she did not grasp why another student was behaving a certain way: ‘He’s one of the Ewells, ma’am’” (36). Both times the students’ do not realize that their teacher not knowing about the person in question is not something that needs fixing. Because of this, the students do not understand why it frustrates her so much. Miss Caroline is new to the area and is not used to it yet.

Lee proves that young children instinctively try to calm others down when they are upset, but as they are not capable of as much as adults are, they often stick to talking. She also shows that if kids feel someone has made a mistake, they will instinctively correct them, instead of thinking through the consequences first as adults often do. Moreover, the author demonstrates that, when told what to do, children naturally become angry and react negatively. In contrast, adults may still become annoyed, but they stop and think about how to handle the situation instead of reacting on instinct. Overall, Lee firmly believes children’s instincts mature and change as they