Theme Of Coming Of Age In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird, written by bestselling author Harper Lee, takes place in Maycomb county, Alabama. Maycomb county is a small community, divided into social classes, where no event escapes the public eye. The novel follows a young girl named Scout, who is forced to navigate through social issues within the community. Through the course of her youth, Scout is pushed into situations that uproot her from her childhood, and put her in a world fit for adults. Over the course of the book, Scout and her brother Jem, take on issues like racism and inequality, causing them to grow as humans. The theme of To Kill a Mockingbird is coming of age, as seen by Lee's use of Mrs. Dubose's death, the character Scout, and the court case.

A prominent theme often found in the novel, is coming of age, or youth. This theme is demonstrated in the scene after Mrs. Dubose's death. Prior to this event, Jem, Scout's brother, had been reading to their neighbor Mrs. Dubose every afternoon, as a form of punishment. Naturally, Jem had formed a minor attachment, and turned to his father for comfort after Mrs. Dubose's tragic death. In the novel, it says, " In a flash Atticus was up and standing over him. Jem buried his face in Atticus' shirt front." (Lee,115) Atticus responds to this by saying, "Sh-h... I think that was her way of …show more content…
This is depicted through the death of Mrs. Dubose, which gave Jem a harsh awakening to how time works. It was shown through the character Scout, when she had to leave behind her past violent tendencies, in order to protect her family's dignity. Finally, coming of age is portrayed through the court case, where both Scout and Jem were thrust into the truths of the real world, causing them to mature into young adults. Together, both Scout and Jem are put through similar situations, in reference to today's issues, that push them farther away from youth, and closer to
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