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Coming Of Age In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

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To Kill a Mockingbird Seminar Essay
Guiding Question 2
In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explains Scout’s coming of age story through a point of view lesson and a lesson about society. After Scout’s first day of school, Atticus justifies Miss Caroline’s extreme behavior regarding Scout’s early reading skills by claiming “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view(Lee 39)”. At this point in the novel, Scout thinks little of what Atticus says and refuses to believe any justification for how Miss Caroline treated her earlier in the day. However, Scout quickly becomes reminded of this lesson time and time again. At the climax of the novel, Atticus justifies Bob Ewell’s reaction of the court proceedings as “some kind of comeback(Lee 292)” when putting himself in Ewell’s shoes. Scout begins to relax, but is not reassured completely by Atticus’ explanation of Bob Ewell’s bland threats. Scout finally truly understands this coming of age lesson when putting herself in Boo Radley’s …show more content…
During the trial of Tom Robinson, Mr. Raymond emphasizes that the “hell white people give colored folks(Lee 269)” is something to cry about. For Scout, this brings attention to a topic she has never done any digging into. This event sets the stage for future events that allow Scout to develop a broader understanding of racism. When discussing the Tom Robinson trial, Atticus explains that the jury “[carries] their resentments right into a jury box(Lee 295).” This highlights the racism involved in the jury’s verdict of Tom Robinson’s case and allows Scout to take a broader view on the subject and its presence in Maycomb. Harper Lee develops To Kill a Mockingbird as a bildungsroman novel through Scout’s coming of age lessons regarding understanding other people’s points of view and the presence of racism in Alabamian

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