To kill a Mocking Essay

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May 4, 2014

Innocence in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”

The story by Harper Lee, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, has shows the perspective of a little girl that is narrating the story, Scout Finch. She grows throughout the novel from innocent to mature based on her experiences in Maycomb. Innocence to experience is a common theme in literature. As we move through life we begin to lose our innocence as we gain more experience. This means our obstacles, our suffering, our trials and tribulations may be painful and they may take away some of our sunny outlook on life, but they teach us valuable lessons. Except perhaps for her boyishness, Scout is like any other little girl. She is intelligent and responds quickly to the situations arising in life. Her ideas are simple and childish. As Scout grows up she comes to accept people as they are, not as she would want them to be. Scout shows understanding and acceptance at the end of her journey. As most individuals grow from immature to adulthood they experience the painfulness of growing up from the realization that not all things end the way one thought they would be. Harper Lee demonstrates a little girl’s perspective through Scout’s character and how she becomes more mature and develops understanding of the world around her. Scout displays her innocence by trying to explain to Miss Caroline that Cunninghams do not accept valuable things they could not pay back. “Walters is one of the Cunninghams,

Miss Caroline” “...the Cunninghams never took anything they can’t pay back...” (Lee 20). Scout tries to explain the Cunningham family to the new teacher that came from a larger rural city. Miss Caroline did not except Scout to outsmart her. Miss Caroline whips Scout because of her explanation of the Cunninghams. The next day of school, Scout showed Miss Caroline that she knows how to read. Miss Caroline did not accept such a learning strategy since she was from another town “Now you tell your father not to teach you anymore. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I’ll take over from here and try to undo the damage” (Lee 17). Scout got upset because her teacher did not accept her learning skills that she got from her father. Scout comes back home after that and explains to Atticus that they can’t read together. Nonetheless Atticus making a deal to still continue the reading with Scout. Throughout the story, one can see Atticus helping and explaining life situations to Scout. “What is rape?” (Lee 135). Scout has never heard this kind of term before and she asks her loving father Atticus on what is the meaning of it. Scout demonstrates innocence throughout the novel through asking questions, getting in trouble, or having nothing to do with anything but being in a place of innocence

Scout grows, learns and hears a lot throughout the novel. She had become more mature but not quite yet as mature as an adult. Scout shows that she is impulsive through getting into fights with the people around her. Although she makes more childish actions, she quietly understands the issues around her. Scout has always tried to listen to Atticus’ advice. “You might hear some ugly talk about it at school, but do one thing for me if you will: you just hold your head high and keep those fists down” (Lee 76). Scout listens to

Atticus and tries to keep the promise. This on the other hand was hard to do because of so many people talking bad about Atticus case. Scout fights a lot with her classmates. The fights she has been through were getting her in trouble most often. ”...I split my knuckle to the bone of his front teeth...” (Lee 84). Scout hit Francis when he calls her father a “nigger-lover”(sic). Scout does not understand the definition of the word, but she knows that it was supposed to be offensive, which she does not like her father being insulted with. On the other hand, one can see Scout becoming the understanding child and doing what she is being told. “As we grew older, Jem and
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