...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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...We Can Change “Dreams of innocence are just that; they usually depend on the denial of reality that can be its own form of hubris” - Michael Pollan. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, innocence plays a very big part during the novel. Its story is told in the eyes of a six year old girl, Jean Louise, who calls herself Scout in the town of Maycomb during the 1930’s. Along Scout’s journey is her brother, Jem, and her summer lover, Dill, who try to face a supposed psychotic neighbor, a crazy dog, an old rude lady, and a life changing trial in the span of three years. To Kill A Mockingbird is Scout growing up and experiencing the loss of innocence while seeing it happen among Jem and her father, Atticus. Although Atticus is an adult, he experiences the loss of innocence just like any growing...
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...Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee discusses the effects of discrimination and the toll it takes on people. Through examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the townsfolk of a small town in Alabama, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of discrimination serve as the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story, as said by Atticus,“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee, 94). In essence, this story demonstrates the loss of innocence of many, especially Scout who is affected by sexism and racism most of all. By far, one of the most evident forms of discrimination present in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. It impacts the actions of every single character in the book and formulates...
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...To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a masterpiece of American literature. The minor characters in To Kill a Mockingbird played an important role; these characters are very relevant to the novel. The role of the minor characters in the book is significant because they outline strong themes and they portray elements of human nature. Minor characters such as Dolphus Raymond, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose and Link Deas demonstrate strong themes such as courage, compassion and kindness such themes are very relevant to the novel. Link Deas is a marvelous minor character. Link displays courage in the novel. During the Tom Robinson trial Link gets up and says, “ I just want the whole lot of you to know one thing right now. That boy’s worked for me eight years an’ I ain’t had a speck o’ trouble outa him. Not a speck.” (Lee 195) It takes a lot of courage to speak out during the trial just to support Tom Robinson. Link is also very kind. He shows kindness because “He walked her the short way, by the Ewells’.”(Lee 249) It is very kind of Link to walk Helen home and commanding Bob Ewell to stop teasing Helen. As well as showing kindness Deas is compassionate. This is correct because “ Mr. Link Deas made a job for Helen. He didn’t really need her, but he felt bad about the way things turned out.”(Lee 249) Link shows compassion by hiring Helen he knows that she will struggle without Tom’s presence. Link Deas displays courage, kindness and compassion within the novel. Mrs. Henry Lafayette...
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...To Kill A Mockingbird A summary of the novel by Harper Lee Doris Griffin Colorado Technical University Online June 23, 2012 Author Note This paper was prepared for LITR240-1202B-09, Phase 5 IP, taught by Professor Daniel Lambert. Abstract Harper Lee wrote only one novel in her life. To Kill A Mockingbird, in a research done by the Book-Of-The-Month Club in 1991 ranked second to the Bible. The novel still draws a million new readers each year. The novel contains two stores, the innocence of childhood as told by Scout and the story of her father who was asked to defend a Negro who was accused of raping a white woman. (Shields, C., 2006) Two of the themes of the novel are justice and tolerance. The two are joined together when Atticus explains to Scout how to understand all kinds of people by walking around in their skin. (Shields, C., 2006) To Kill A Mockingbird is a story to learn a life’s lesson from. The innocence of a child is genuine and they are taught racism and hate by their elders. Children at a young age do not see black or white, rich or poor, or understand what racism means. They are just children who believe that everyone is good and they trust with all their hearts. To Kill a Mockingbird The story is set in and old town in Alabama, Maycomb. The town is described as a quiet and dull town in the 1930’s. Scout is one of the main characters in the story. She is naïve and innocent as children are. She has an older brother, Jem, that...
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...Loss of Innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird Children are born innately innocent and optimistic of the world around them. As they age they often come to recognize the injustice and corruption that occurs day to day. “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is a novel that shows the discrimination, social inequality and preconceived opinions of others. A key theme is the Loss of Innocence. Jean Louis Finch “Scout” is the narrator and protagonist of the story. The story is told through the eyes of Scout as an adult however takes place when she's aged six to nine. At the beginning of the novel Scout see’s the world from this childhood perspective because she has not yet seen the evil and prejudice in Maycomb as the novel progresses she learns that the world is not as it seems. As a child Scout has always believed that everyone is good and kind and everyone is good and kind to one another although she has grown to realize that this is untrue. Scouts loss of innocence is partly due to her teacher Miss Caroline Fisher and attending school. (“I never looked forward more to anything more in my life” (Lee 20), she has been nothing but excited for school but once she finally enrols she has realized that she's nothing but disappointed. Miss Caroline is not pleased that Scout is above her level in reading and insists that her father Atticus stops teaching her. "You tell him I'll take over from here and try to undo the damage— (Lee 23) She is very poor with the students and this upsets Scout...
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...contrast with other similar literary works like To Kill a Mockingbird. Caddy is the reason why several of the characters become disillusioned. Benji feels a foreboding sense of loss because his sister and caretaker has abandoned him. Quentin used to idealize Caddy, yet after her promiscuous escapades, Quentin turns to depression and eventually...
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...of To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during three years of the Great Depression in the fictional "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama. The narrator, six-year-old named Scout Finch, lives with her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. Jem and Scout become friends with a boy named Dill who visits Maycomb to stay with his aunt for the summer. The three children are afraid of their neighbor "Boo" Radley. The adults of Maycomb don’t like to talk about Boo and for many years, few have seen him. The children feed each other's imaginations with rumors about his appearance and reasons for remaining hidden, and they fantasize about how to get him out of his house. After two summers of being friends with Dill, Scout and Jem find out someone is leaving them small gifts in a tree outside the Radley house. Boo makes gestures to the children but is never seen in person. Atticus is assigned to defend a black man named Tom Robinson, who has been accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Although many of Maycomb's citizens disapprove, Atticus agrees to defend Tom. Atticus discovers that the accusers—Mayella and her father, Bob Ewell, the town drunk—are lying. It also becomes clear that the friendless Mayella was making sexual advances towards Tom and her father caught her in the act. Even with convincing evidence of Tom's innocence, the jury convicts him. Tom is soon shot and killed while trying to escape from prison. Harper Lee wrote To Kill a MockingBird...
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...Innocence is something everybody has had at one point in time or another but its also something that always fails to stay. Life experiences, as well as presence during times of injustice, will ultimately lead to the shattering of a child's innocence. In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, loss of innocence is displayed through Jem's experiences and coming of age. Jem's visitation to Calpurnia's church had introduced him to the many negative qualities of Maycomb and its people. He also takes in the flaws of prejudice and judgment through his time with Boo Radley. Particularly, it was the trial that shattered his innocence entirely. Jem's witnessing of the harsh racism and brutal injustice during Tom Robinson's trial brought it two steps further, and he broke down. Innocence is something many strive to maintain, but life experiences and viewings of racism and injustice as portrayed by Harper Lee prevent just that. Calpurnia’s church had greeted Jem with prejudice, poverty, racism, as well as the birth of Jem’s realization of how Maycomb truly was. Upon arrival to Cal’s...
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...“How Does Harper Lee Present Her Ideas About Childhood in the Novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’?” In the novel ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ written by Harper Lee, childhood is expressed throughout the story. The narrator of ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is Scout, an adult when the book was written, but a child when the story was lived, with this narration Harper Lee, uses Scout to portray the events which, normally would have had a biased review by adults at the time, but because it is written by a child it has non-judgemental views. Therefore, because of the child narrator, and the other main characters being children, this shows that childhood in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’ is important and crucial. In the chapters 1 to 12, childhood is presented by friendship, gullibility, pride, questioning and fear. The fear element, is a major part through ‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’, because at different stages of the novel at least one of the main characters is scared. The Finch children first experience real friendship in ‘‘‘To Kill a Mockingbird’’’, when they meet Charles Baker Harris – Dill. Before Dill has passed the ‘Jem test’, Dill boasts to Scout and Jem that he can read. Which was not usually common in Maycomb at the time, but Jem and Scout could both read, which meant that they thought Dill was showing off and they wouldn’t want to be friends with him. Also what makes Dill become an issue about friendship, is how he introduces himself. He recites his entire name, and makes fun of...
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...Scott has learned to choose from right from wrong choices of her life, which is in the novel “The Kill of the Mocking Bird,” from her loss of innocence, and maturing, as she has faced different problems through her childhood. For instance, Miss Maudie is one of the adults that watches and cares for her and Jim. She teaches God’s commandments and reminds them that they should not fight. Scott has learned a positive lesson from her brother Jim and her nanny Miss Maudie not to fight even if a bully is bullying her in school. For example, in Chapter 3, Scout was fighting with Walter, and then Jem came over there and told Scott “knock it off and Let him go” (Lee 30). What she learns from this is inviting your enemies to dinner because her brother...
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...In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a poignant coming-of-age story about loss of innocence in the character of Scout. Three significant events illustrate this fact. The first example portrayed in the novel occurred when Scout went to the jail to find out what Atticus was up to, only to find that a mob had arrived to lynch Tom Robinson. This event left Scout with the notion of a mob mentality. Another event was the turning point of the story, the trial of Tom Robinson; this defining moment taught Scout of prejudice and injustice. She had only a vague notion of prejudice until the trial. And finally, she experienced a real shock when Bob Ewell attempted to kill both her and Jem. This was malice in its purest form. Ultimately, these were all defining moments for Scout, and her innocence was lost as she was forced to a brutal awareness of the draconian ways of the world. The first example occurs when one evening Atticus crept out of the house. This was unusual because Atticus never went out late at night. Scout and Jem, curious about why Atticus had left incognito, followed him quietly to see what he would do. Neither was prepared for what they discovered: Atticus was guarding the jail that held Tom Robinson to protect him from the likely occurrence of a lynch mob. Well, a mob happened to come along, and they demanded entry to the jail so they could lynch Tom. Not realizing her danger, Scout fended off the mob. In the aftermath, Scout and Jem were having...
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...The evil nature and intentions of people can either hurt or harm individuals or it can bring about resilience and determination. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee revealed that humans often have other motives in life; some are born to be evil in nature, some are naturally innocent and then there are some that are born to protect the innocent. Are humans decidedly cruel or is there some moral good in each of us? In Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents a different view of the individual, specifically that within each person there is a struggle between right and wrong, but that evil will end up winning in the end. Initially, the boys listen to their consciences and act according to the moral code they were taught during their...
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...Stinney all have something in common. Despite all coming from very different backgrounds and very different families they all share one thing in common, they were all wrongly put to death. Each of their cases were revaluated after their deaths and each man was proven innocent, their families were awarded a large sum of money as compensation for the Courts mistakes. But with this fact being said can any sum of money truly contemplate for the loss of a life? Can money truly replace a loved one- a son, a husband, a wife? It is an obvious fact that money cannot buy back a human life. There have been many other recorded cases of executions; cases that were later proven to be innocent and...
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...When Tom Robinson was leaving the courtroom, declared guilty by the Judge for a crime he undoubtedly did not commit, the only ones truly shocked about the verdict were two children. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee criticizes the society of the fictional town known as Maycomb for many issues that still occur today. One societal issue that this novel highlights is racism, specifically with the trial of Tom Robinson, who was wrongfully accused and convicted of rape. Harper Lee also examines other, just as important topics to society. The novel takes place in mainly one town in Alabama known as Maycomb during the Great Depression where finding a job is increasingly difficult. Although fictional, it accurately...
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