To Kill A Mockingbird is a popular book written by a woman by the name of Harper Lee. This books theme was on how the main character, Scout, matured throughout the story. The book starts out telling about Jem, Scouts’ older brother and what he looks like. There are a few things throughout the book that help Scout see what the world is really like, and how she matures to change her understanding of life and the world. Jem and Scout lived back when there was segregation, and racism in the world. Blacks and whites were treated very differently.
Scout being only six years old and her view of people and the world are very innocent, she doesn’t really understand that people and the world have darkness and cruelty in them. She matures over the course of the story through seeing how truly different the world is from her understanding. She goes to the court session and watches her father try to defend Tom Robinson even though everyone is against him. She sees how big of a difference skin color makes, and how it overcomes the truth. Then, Scout and Jem are attacked by a man by the name of Mr. Ewell.
Then Scouts understanding of people change in the end when Boo Radley saves them from Mr. Ewell. Some important characters are Scout, Jem, Atticus, Boo Radley, Bob Ewell, and Tom Robinson Scout matured by viewing things differently through the eyes of an adult instead of a child. She matured by watching how racism had over came truth and evidence, she first saw racism at the trial of Tom Robinson, she used the lesson of walking in others shoes before judging. ?Scout matured by watching how racism was a big part in the world, and how it overcomes the truth, and how reality and people can be cruel.
Cal took Jem and Scout to the black peoples church and the kids see that the black people do not want them there. A woman by the name of Lula, she especially didn’t want them there. She was holding a grudge against white people. She didn’t believe that white people and black people could ever be treated equally. She didn’t believe that white and black people could get along and live as equals. She believed that the black people would always be treated as lesser people, as if they were lower than dogs. “Lula stopped, but she said, “You ain’t got no business bringin‘ white chillun here —they got their church, we got our’n.
It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal? ”Calpurnia said, “It’s the same God, ain’t it? ” (To Kill A Mockingbird Page 120) Some black people treat white people the same way whites treat them. They resent them and dislike them. Many believe that blacks and whites will never be treated as equals and will always be segregated. But some blacks believe that blacks and whites can live in harmony and be treated as equals. Some blacks believe that blacks and white people do not belong in the same place and should not mix. ?Not all black people feel the way Lula does. Some are alright with white people.
They believe that not all people are bad they see people for who they are. They believe that Jem and Scout are good people because their father Atticus is defending Tom in the rape trial against Mr. Ewell. They see them as innocent children who don’t understand the world yet and are still innocent to the ways of racism and that many people don’t believe black people. “Mister Jem,” he said, “we’re mighty glad to have you all here. Don’t pay no ‘tention to Lula, she’s contentious because Reverend Sykes threatened to church her. She’s a troublemaker from way back, got fancy ideas an’ haughty ways—we’re mighty glad to have you all. (To Kill A Mockingbird Page 120 & 121) ? Some blacks are alright mixing with whites, they believe that whites and blacks can be in the same place at the same time without segregation. Lula does not believe that blacks and whites can live without segregation. She believes that there will never be a time when people live without segregation. Other people believe in hoping that there will be a time that people without segregation and everyone will be treated equally. ?This example is how Scout was before her pivotal moment. She was very innocent and she didn’t look at the world like a mature adult.
She was still looking at people and the world through child-like innocent eyes. She didn’t understand how the world worker yet. Scout learned not to judge people by rumors or what other people say. She learned if you get to truly know someone the two views are very different. ?Scout shows a lot of child-like innocence throughout the book and many of these times she matures in some way. She notices things that kids her age don’t really notice. She matures by seeing things from an older persons point of view. She looks at it from other people’s views and matureness. “Atticus was trying to show, it seemed to me, that Mr.
Ewell could have beaten up Mayella. That much I could follow. If her right eye was blacked and she was beaten mostly on the right side of the face, it would tend to show that a left-handed person did it. ” (To Kill A Mockingbird Page 180) Scout is maturing and connections the evidence her father, Atticus is trying to make the jury see. She sees the connection that Atticus is trying to show that there was no way Tom could have raped Mayella. She sees that the more likely person who raped Mayella was her father. She sees how all the pieces point away from Tom to Mayella’s father.
She sees that a left handed person had to rape Mayella, but Toms’ arm is too short to have done the job. Scout is maturing and she is seeing how the world works. She sees the world for what it is, she doesn’t see the world as being innocent anymore. She sees the world as it really is and how the world is cruel and unforgiving. She sees the world for how it truly is and not through the eyes of a child. “His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony I could see that it was no use to him. (To Kill A Mockingbird Page 188) After the trial Scout truly understood how the world works. She stopped looking at the world through the eyes of a child and started to look at the world as a mature adult. She got the taste of racism and injustice. She thought the world was all kind and good and everyone was treated equally. Then she saw racism and her view changed to people can have a darkness and cruel side to them. She stopped viewing the world through the eyes of a child. She saw the world for how it truly was. After this big pivotal moment her view of the world and life changed.
She view the world and people through mature adult eyes. She stopped viewing everything in an innocent view. She view the world and people how they truly are. She learned the cruel reality. Scout and Jem see how segregation and the color of your skin can overcome truth in the end. ?Scout is trying to ask what people believe Boo Radley was like and what he is really like. She is having tea with the women at the house and she asked Miss Maudie and the women what Boo was really like.
She talked to Aunt Alexandra and Stephanie to see what they thought of him. She wanted to make her view of him seem better and more like him. That is three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford,” said Miss Maudie grimly. “Stephanie Crawford even told me once she woke up in the middle of the night and found him looking in the window at her. I said what did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him? That shut her up a while. ” (To Kill A Mockingbird Page 46) Scouts’ view of Boo Radley was formed around rumors she had heard. She didn’t get to know him before she made assumptions on what’s he was like. She is trying to ask what he really is like. She is viewing him as a creep who watches others during the night.
She believes he never comes out of his house. She doesn’t see that it is rude to talk about other people and their experiences with Boo. Jem and Scout were attacked by Mr. Ewell and Jem was hurt badly. Boo Radley came and saved them by killing Mr. Ewell. He took Jem back to Atticus at the house and she sees him truly for who he is. She sees how people view him cruelly but in reality he is kind. “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough. “(To Kill A Mockingbird Page 283) ?
Scout uses her knowledge of how the world work and her lessons to view Boo. She walked around in his shoes and then came to a realization of how she wanted to view Boo Radley. She matured and saw that not getting to know people before they got to know them was as bad as racism. She saw that she was no better than the grown ups who wrongly convicted Tom of raping Mayella. ?Scout sees the the world is a cruel place and she was cruel to Boo Radley because she judged and made assumptions before she actually met him. She is now looking at Boo through the eyes of a mature adult instead of child-like innocent eyes.
She sees Boo for who he is and not for what people say he is. Scout matured throughout out the book by viewing racism differently than other people. She viewed it is a thing that overcame the truth and wrongly convicted a man. The one pivotal moment of Toms trial changed how she viewed things and how she matured to her understanding of the world and how harsh it truly was. The evidence proves that after that pivotal moment her way of looking at things changed. In the beginning she viewed the world as being equal and everything kind to people and the world can be a cruel place.
She matured and stopped looking at hints in a child’s eyes to how a mature adult would look at the world. She started with child-like innocence but matured to an adult like understanding of the world. Scout matured majorly throughout the whole book. In the beginning she didn’t understand the world she believed it was an innocent world. Then after she saw racism and what it can do she matured and saw the world and people for who they truly were. She learned that you should get to know people better before you assume things, and that racism overcomes truth in the end.