Alissa Grisler
6/4/14
English Period 6
Mr. Mahan
Loss of Innocence in To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, provides a coming-of-age story in which Scout and Jem Finch experience a loss of innocence as they grow up in the deeply prejudiced Southern Alabama. This loss of innocence stems from their exposure to discrimination, their increasing knowledge of justice versus corruption, and their awareness of social stratification. Throughout the story, their father, Atticus, serves as their guide and rigid advocate for morality. Harper Lee shows racism in Maycomb through dialogue and character’s actions. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem are robbed of their childlike innocence during the trial of Tom Robinson, a black
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Scout is again being taunted by a peer for her father’s defense of a black person. Although Atticus has tried to instill in his children a sense of morality, it is tested by the racist residents of Maycomb. Scout here learns of prejudice that she doesn’t understand because Atticus has raised his children to be logical and to value a person for themselves rather than their skin color. Blatant racism is also demonstrated on page 135 when Ms. Dubose says to Scout and Jem, “‘Your father’s no better than the niggers and the trash he works for!’” The fact that an old woman is attacking young children for their father’s profession, shows how Maycomb is deeply rooted in racism. It isn’t just children who taunt Scout and Jem, it’s the adults. Scout and Jem must grow up with this constant berating of their father, and learn to ignore ignorance. On page 182 Aunt Alexandra says to Atticus, “‘You’ve let things go on too long Atticus, too long.’” Scout is overhearing in this passage Aunt Alexandra say that Calpurnia should be fired, that they don’t need her. Aunt …show more content…
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem Finch discover that personal prejudice can influence justice, or the lack thereof. Growing up with Atticus in Maycomb is a contradiction in itself. Atticus encourages equality and raises his kids to be moral beings. However, the rest of Maycomb is very biased and racist. On page 296 Atticus tells Scout and Jem, “‘With people like us- that’s our share of the bill. We generally get the juries we deserve. Our stout Maycomb citizens aren’t interested, in the first place. In the second place, they’re afraid.’” Atticus is telling his children about juries in this excerpt. While legally, Tom Robinson should have been evaluated by a “jury of his peers”, his jury consisted of twelve, biased white men. A fair trial wasn’t possible. Scout and Jem are forced to realize in this discussion that the justice system doesn’t apply the same rules for whites
On the other hand, characters like Rashad from All American Boys faced racism directly when he was wrongfully attacked by a police officer. Racial injustice caused a loss of innocence for the people involved in the trials. The racial injustice during Tom Robinson's trial caused Scout and Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird to lose a sense of innocence. Jem and Scout were children who did not fully understand the struggles that black people faced dealing with racism, but because their father was a lawyer they got to see how unfair the justice system is toward black people and other minorities.
Racism is the most prominent form of discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird though earlier in the book Scout showed some classist biases. For example she got into trouble with Walter Cunningham because his family acted different from hers so she beat him up, she told Atticus and he said, “Try fighting with your head for a change” (Lee 87). Atticus is attempting to coerce Jem and Scout to not fall prey to societal norms of hate and bias. As another example of Justice is when Atticus tells Scout that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird so she asks Miss Maudie why, she says, “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.
Throughout the book, Atticus tries very hard not to expose his children to Maycomb’s disease, but his attempt in sheltering them from the racism flowing throughout the town isn’t as successful as he had hoped; Jem and Scout are picture perfect examples of what the loss of innocence can do to children. On Scout’s first day of school, she is about as excited as a child can get; naturally, she would think her teacher would be amazed at her astounding reading capabilities, but upon reading the alphabet and quotes about the stock-market from The Mobile Register; and explaining that her father, Atticus, taught her what she knew Miss Caroline simply said that Atticus, “does not know how to teach” (23). Just by telling her this Scout felt as if it
The Killing of Innocence Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we see more and more innocent characters become victims to the evil in Maycomb County. These characters symbolize the mockingbird, a bird that should not be harmed due to its lack of trouble inflicted on others. These characters had yet to see the evil of the world, or partake in it, and are therefore innocent. Nethertheless, they are brought to reality when they are “killed”, or their innocence is destroyed.
Innocence varies on the person, someone may be lying or you're actually innocent. Innocence is a big theme in To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee shows many examples of innocence through characters in the novel. Innocence is a big theme that stood out to me. Tom Robinson, hard working man, helps other from the kindness of his soul and attends church.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl by the name of Jean Finch and her brother Jeremy Finch go through events that teach them multiple different life lessons like changing their perspectives to other peoples before judging them. This ties in the meaning of the mockingbird which represents innocence because it causes no harm to anyone; to judge or to harm it proves that one does not understand its perspective. In the novel, Harper Lee brings up many times where the representation of a mockingbird appears. There is one direct time when their father, Atticus, asks the kids not to shoot any mockingbirds and Ms. Maudie tells Scout “Your father’s right. Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy.
Jem now understands that it is not the law that is the problem with society. The law was not what failed Tom Robinson and his family, it was society itself that failed the Robinsons. With knowledge of this, Jem now sees that society does not always do the right thing, but society is not going to change over night. If Jem still obtained his innocence he probably would not understand how a white man’s word vs a black man’s word can be so powerful, because his innocence was blinding him from the truth of society. Atticus told Jem “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men everyday of your life…” (220).
Loss of innocence is when someone comes to a realization through an event that alters their perception and understanding of reality. The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is set in the small town of Maycomb in the 1930s, also known as the Great Depression. Many characters play a specific role in the novel, for instance, Boo Radley plays a mysterious character that scares children unintentionally because of events in the past. Atticus Finch, who is a white lawyer, becomes well-known to the black activists in the community because he takes on the case of Tom Robison, a black person accused of raping a white woman. The aftermath of taking the case was sizable.
The Downfall of a Mockingbird Mockingbirds are said to be one of the most innocent animals in the world. Although Harper Lee used many instances throughout the novel of mockingbirds being stripped of their innocence. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the theme of innocence is taken away from certain characters just like a mockingbird being killed. Firstly, Boo Radley was accused of being a crazy man who is never seen. Secondly, Mrs. Maudie had her house get burned down to the ground.
Scout and Jem are forced to deal with racial slurs and insults because of Atticus ' role in the trial. Scout has a very difficult time not physically fighting with other children due to this. Tom is asfsd to be guilty, even after Atticus proves that Tom did not commit the crime. Atticus unintentionally offends Bob Ewell, the father whose daughter is accusing Tom.
When one grows up, it is inevitable they will lose their innocence. Seeing the world through rose colored glasses can only take one so far, and eventually they will have to open their eyes to real issues in their lives. While this happens at different ages for everyone, Atticus in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee believes that his kids should not be sheltered from the real world. As Scout and Jem, Atticus’ children, grow up, especially in a time where Maycomb is so segregated, Atticus teaches his kids real life lessons and to not become like the rest of their town; racist and judgemental. This comes with a cost, however, as the kids “grow up” at an expedited rate.
In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the prominent theme of loss of innocence reoccurs throughout the book in certain characters dialect and actions. Jem, Scout, and Boo Radley show the theme of loss of innocence many times through the book. Loss of innocence is an important theme and helps the reader understand what these characters are thinking. As shown in the book, Jem gets older and more mature through the book, and by doing that, he loses his innocence. Before the trial, Jem had a childlike perspective of the world and played like a normal kid would.
After Atticus loses his trial, Jem notices that the Maycomb County justice system is broken and it needs help, “Then it all goes back to the jury, then. We oughta do away with juries. ”(294) This shows that Jem now understands that people are racist in everything and racism needs to be fought. On top of realizing that the justice system is in shambles, Jem realized that Tom Robinson’s case was very good at showing that.
Racism means hate towards another race and injustice mean unfair treatment, according to learner 's dictionary. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, an African american lawyer, was helping people get justice for the colored community. Another book similar to Just Mercy is, To Kill a Mockingbird, which made in 1960 was written by Harper Lee. Harper Lee addressed many issues about racial injustice too. Just Mercy was written in 2014,
Though most of the town Maycomb feels negatively and discriminates the African-Americans, characters like Atticus show us how one person can impact his surroundings if he has high morals. Although he couldn’t change the mindset of the other town residents , he made sure that his own children didn’t discriminate people, purely on the basis of their skin colour. Racism can be seen even in the first few chapters of the book. These racist comments by nonracist children typify the culture in which they were growing up.