...Coming of age is a life-long process all humans inevitably go through. This process of maturity can often be examined from fictional characters, such as Scout and Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, and Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsb by Scott Fitzgerald. Each of these characters encounters different processes of coming of age. When these characters process of maturation and coming of age are compared, the most relevant coming of age best exhibited by Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, following with Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird and Mr. Gatsby from The Great Gatsby; however, differences in coming of age are apparent in the different time periods of each novel setting, practicality, and present social issues. Holden Caulfield, the main character in The Catcher in the...
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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...
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...Coming of Age For many generations, coming-of-age has impacted the perspectives of many perspectives. Coming-of-age occurs in everyone at one point or another. Gaining new perspectives and seeing the world in a different way is an important part of life. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is an example of a character whose coming-of-age process involves gaining a different perspective. Scout’s maturity can be proven when To Kill a Mockingbird says, “I carefully picked up the tray and watched myself walk to Mrs. Merriweather. With my best company manners, I asked her if she would have some” (Lee 318). Scout is coming-of-age when realizing how to appropriately react to certain...
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...Losing Innocence As children age and mature, they start to lose their innocence and purity. In her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates how children fail to keep their pureness as they grow older. Through the eyes of Scout, the reader sees Maycomb as an angelic town where the residents can do no harm. However, throughout the course of the novel, as Jem and Scout Finch grow and lose innocence, the town of Maycomb does too. Although the loss of purity, especially in children, can break one’s heart, it is human nature and sooner or later, everyone will surrender their sinlessness. To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age story about how the main characters move from a state of innocence to a mature one after suffering from, but surviving many misadventures. Lee compares many of the characters to a mockingbird, a symbol of pure chastity. Scout and Jem, the main characters of...
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...you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.’ (3: 85-87) To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAMB) written by Harper Lee focuses on the inequality of race throughout America in the early 1900’s. The building roman novel published in 1960 utilises literacy techniques including symbolism, first person and characterisation in order to explore key themes such as innocence, social inequality and gender stereotyping. The novel promotes an insightful, entertaining and morally educating perspective for all readers. Literacy techniques are a critical part of the storytelling. Symbolism is used in order to enhance the story; it expresses a deeper meaning towards...
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...inevitable. Lawyers for example. Both lawyers in a criminal case appear to defend their defendant in court. They both occur reflecting on the same situation or problem, but the two have complete diverse interpretations on the committed actions according to their defendant. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, and film adaption,...
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...Coming of Age There comes a time in each person’s life when they reach a point in which they are no longer children, but adults. The phrase coming-of-age is typically associated with this period in a teenager’s life. Some teens reach this point by simply growing older and obtaining a better understanding of the world surrounding them. Others reach this stage by experiencing an event or events that will affect them for the rest of their lives. Examples of coming of age can be found in many stories, books, and magazines throughout literature. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and “Beautiful Brains” by David Dobbs are excellent examples of literature that contain the trait coming-of-age. Coming-of-age involves recognizing different perspectives....
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...To Kill A Mockingbird: Overview Vanessa Vigneau English 400 March 20, 2015 Cultural and Literary Significance To Kill A Mockingbird was written during the most critical time periods of racial discrimination, the 1930s. During this time racial prejudice was already an issue, especially in the southern states, but during the Great Depression it escalated even more and the imagery in To Kill A Mockingbird allows the reader to fully understand the impact prejudice had on children and adults. To further explore the cultural significance it is important to also realize that the story time period closely related to the time period in which it was published, 1960. During this time, many were trying to fight Jim Crow laws of segregation and were in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. (2007) This story would seem obvious to some as a coming of age story involving the main character and narrator, Scout, but it was much more involved than a little girl growing up and learning to see things from another’s point of view. This story involves the cultural significance of how people lived in the south in the 1930s and how children and adults were affected by the on-going, ugly, violent prejudice. In the story Scout and Jem are taught by their father lessons about courage and tolerance as it is becoming clear to Atticus, he can no longer shield his children from what is happening in their town. He teaches them to stand in someone else’s shoes and consider the world from that perspective...
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...Ethical Influence Paper September 18th, 2015 Brandon McConnell To Kill A Mockingbird If you were to ask me about a book or a hero that was an ethical influence on me, I would tell you that both come from the same book/movie. It would be Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird, it is a classic example of heroism and doing the right thing and there is many readers who would agree with that statement. I read this book at the young age of 14 in middle school when I was still developing my feel for the ethics of right and wrong so it made a lasting impact on me growing up and developing as a person. Summarize the book or hero’s life in a few paragraphs; Everyone should know the story of To Kill A Mockingbird but if you don’t, let me share it with you. It happens in a little town of Maycomb, Alabama in the heat of all the racism in the South. In this little town everyone knows each other and everyone knows what happens. The main characters are the Finch family with Atticus, Scout, and Jem in their small house in the middle of Maycomb. Scout is a young girl who grew up with a lot of boys and acts that way in the way she deals with conflict. Jem is the older brother who isn’t really isn’t in the picture a lot but is in a crucial incident of the story with Scout. Atticus is a very well known coveted lawyer; everyone in town knows him and looks up to him as a person and a professional. That was short lived when Atticus did something he knew was right but society...
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...Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is often cited as one of the greatest coming of age novels in modern literature. The story is told mostly from a child’s point of view, and focuses on two points in time. This character is Scout, a six year old (and eventually nine later in the book), who acts in the beginning of the story like most children her age, naïve. As the plot progresses, Scout is matured and transformed by mainly her experiences with society, which often have increasingly adult themes. In order to show how much she develops, Lee places emphasis on Scout’s perception of other people’s views. Scout’s story begins when she is six years old, when she is less focussed on the big picture and more what will immediately affect her....
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...is prevalent through Scout, a character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. In her novel, Scout matures by following her father’s advice to “climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (39) Examining how Scout treats the Cunninghams, Mayella Ewell and Boo Radley, empathy allowing for maturity is clear. The way Scout treats the Cunninghams shows Scout maturing through empathy. Near the beginning of the novel, Walter Cunningham’s behavior at the dinner table disgusts Scout. Throughout the meal, Scout acts...
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...Anger is defined as a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility. We all feel anger in our lives one time or another. Jem is one of the main characters in To Kill A Mockingbird and in chapter 11, jem felt much anger towards Mrs. Dubose. Although he acted out in anger, this event soon shapes him into the young man he is now. Jems coming of age experience is developed through dialogue, external conflict, and symbolism. The first literary element in jems coming of age is dialogue. Mrs. Dubose was a neighbor of the Finch family, and she was awful. She was not the kind of old lady that handed out hard candies from her pocketbook. She was a bitter old woman and took joy in harassing anyone that crossed her path. She often stopped Jem...
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...A mockingbird is a quiet animal that does does a better job at listening than other birds. In Harper Lee’s Coming-Of-Age fictional novel To Kill A Mockingbird, I feel like the mockingbird symbolizes Boo Radley and Tom Robinson the most, who were both peaceful people who never wanted to hurt anybody or anything. To harm an honest person or creature would be a sin. Scout's dad, Atticus, tells Scout and Jem, "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." The mockingbird symbolizes these two characters because they don’t have their own unique voice; they’re content to follow along. Whereas, the blue jay (representing the people) is loud and obnoxious, the mockingbird just mimics other people’s...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird is a coming-of-age novel that is set in the early 1930s in a small and sleepy Southern town called Maycomb. It was written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. The novel deals with childhood innocence and the conflict between good and evil in many different situations. Throughout the novel, the reader follows the childhood of a young girl called Jean Louise "Scout" Finch who lived with her family that included her father, Atticus, her brother, Jem, and their black cook, Calpurnia. Scout is the narrator and the protagonist of the novel and the reader is able to perceive, through her narration, a child's perspective of the world and the prejudice that exists within it. One of the themes that is prominent in the novel is black racism. The writer made that notable through the lifestyle of Maycomb, its citizens' notions and the case of Tom Robinson. These cases helped to shape Scout's opinion of the real world and her understanding of the dark and cruel sides of it. The theme also plays an important role in understanding and analyzing the novel as a whole. As the novel is a depiction of the writer's childhood, it elaborates to the reader the various aspects of real life in the United States of America during the 1930s and helps them get a view of the racial discrimination that shaped the American society at that time. That...
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...Throughout a person’s life, they go through many changes, including the change from childhood to adulthood. Throughout the change from childhood to adulthood, one grows physically, mentally, and morally. This change is known as coming of age. The theme of coming of age is evident in To Kill a Mockingbird, mainly focused on Scout and Jem. Jem is an example of coming of age because he goes through a physical and moral maturation throughout the book. Physically, Jem grows from a boy to a young man. He goes through puberty, as he ages from the age of 10 to 13. As he gets older, Jem starts to noticeably change. Scout says that she “noticed a new slimness about his body” and that Jem was “growing taller” (Lee 301). Jem is also proud of his newfound...
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