Because To Kill A Mockingbird is set over several seasons, we have experienced many characters growing up. Throughout the book, there have been examples of Scout maturing. “I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing by the old place, at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley – what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters, delivering greetings on the end of a fishing-pole, wandering in his collards at night?” In this passage you can tell Scout has become more mature because she understands that the way she acted with the Radley’s was wrong. A while back when she was younger she didn’t quite get why tormenting Arthur was so bad. Scout thought it was fun to play around the Radley’s house and the sneaky feeling of doing it was exciting. Now she has realized how sad and lonely he must feel by being shut in his house for his life and getting tormented by little children. Although Scout has matured, she is still only a little girl. She still needs Atticus to guide her through her life when something becomes hard to deal with. Scout has grown up and become more mature as the book progressed.
Emma
Scout has grown up a lot since the beginning of the book. She is now starting to understand things that she has done in the past, and why they were rude or incorrect. "Jem and I would have had several swift, satisfying fist fights apiece and ended the matter for good. As it was, we were compelled to hold our heads high and be, respectively, a gentleman and a lady. In a way, it was like the era of Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose, without all her yelling." This quote shows that Scout both understands that she must stand tall while others talk down at her and that Mrs. Dubose really was courageous. Scout is now understanding that sometimes it is braver to keep your fists down as opposed to the times when all she wanted to do was hit someone. The quote shows that she is beginning to take Atticus' word seriously. She finally sees why her father admired Mrs. Dubose. Scout now knows that Mrs. Dubose was really doing the right thing ever though she had no chance. Scout is at long last aware of the definition of courage.
ReplyDeleteOne can see Scout maturing throughout To Kill a Mockingbird. An example of this is Scout's opinion on Arthur Radley. In the early chapters when Scout was naive and easily influenced by what Jem and other people were saying about Boo Radley, her views assimilated theirs. "Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch,"(p.16) Although Scout who admittedly never seen Boo Radley before, she easily believes in her older brother and other rumors from people such as Miss Stephanie. This continues throughout as she, Jem, and Dill become more adventurous and curious about Boo Radley.
ReplyDeleteLater on in the book, especially at the end (I've read ahead so this might be a spoiler), Scout's understanding of Boo deepens. She makes judgments according to her own opinion and not based on rumors. "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." (p.374) Her opinion changes about Boo, and instead of fear which she initially had, she has found respect and maybe even a friend in Boo. Scout matures, not only in age, but in wisdom as she finally understands Atticus's advice and steps into Arthur's shoes.