Mrs. Dubose reclaims some of her innocence by stopping her morphine addiction before she died, while Mayella Ewell preserved her juvenile act for the cost of an honest man’s life. More importantly, Atticus and Heck Tate sustain a hermit's innocence by lying to the public. It is stated numerous times, by numerous children today that they want to grow up and become an adult in order to be taken seriously. We see this happen to one of the novel’s major characters, Jem, as he starts to turn twelve. He starts to identify himself as a grown up and spend less time with his little sister. Jem wants to rid himself of being naive, juvenile, and innocent but, little does he realise, that these traits are what the rest of the adults in his town are craving or trying to preserve. Despite common knowledge, the pure and innocent heart of your childhood days is not gone forever. You can still view the world as a child, live freely without repent, and make good out of all situations. Just like how a mockingbird can never be truly killed, a heart never truly grows