Transformation from Children to Young Adults
Maturity is when you grow and develop as a person as you get older. However, it does not necessarily mean it comes with age. People can mature if they are surrounded by certain people or situations, or if they have the right person to guide them. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the children go through many stages in their lives. At first, they are young and innocent, but as the story progresses, they seem to grow and learn lessons. By the end of the novel, they have matured a great deal. Through the many events in their lives, the main characters Scout and Jem show signs of maturing as they grow up into young adults while encountering serious adult situations. In the beginning of the …show more content…
First, Scout begins to understand prejudice when Francis came to visit her home at Christmas. He said to her “If Uncle Atticus lets you run around with stray dogs, that’s his own business, like Grandma says, so it ain’t your fault. I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a n**** lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family-” (Lee 110). This was one of the first times Scout heard this and understood what it meant. Not only did Francis say this extremely racist thing, but it was about her father and it was directed towards her. After he said this to her, it affected her personally, especially because she experienced it first hand and was about someone she loved. At that moment, she understood what racism and prejudice was and she knew his comment was very offensive. Not only did Scout realize something, but so did Jem. He realized how the society really is. This happened when he …show more content…
First, Scout understands Atticus’ lesson of empathy. Scout has understood something that has been unknown to her since the beginning of the novel. She said “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” (Lee 374). At the end of the novel, she Scout sees Boo for the first time and sees how he was never really the scary monster everyone thought he was. As she stands on the porch steps, thinking of how the events are viewed from different perspectives, and almost literally standing in someone else’s shoes, she sees how things are not always how they seem and how it is not good to make assumptions about people and situations. Looking back, she probably would not have done some of the things she did if she knew this. Another thing Atticus has taught Scout was what it means to be a mockingbird. Something she was told about early in the book, but never knew what this meant. When Bob Ewell died, Heck Tate refused to tell people that it was Boo. This is because he was trying to protect him from the people in town and was trying to protect a “mockingbird”. She finally understands this when she says “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it be?” (Lee 370). She realizes that a mockingbird is a victim of society’s prejudice,