Scouts Maturity over the Course of the Novel - Essay Example

As soon as Scout gains experiences related to various facts around her, she becomes more and more mature.

Scout, at the initiation of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is depicted as an innocent and naïve girl who is only five years old. She knows nothing about the malevolent acts of people and is deprived of any knowledge pertaining to evil aspects of the world. When she listens about Boo Radley along with her brother Jem and her friend Dill, she gets frightened and considers him criminal-minded as she narrates in her story,

“Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him………….. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work” (Chapter 1).

She shows a prejudiced attitude related to Boo Radley, who continuously shows kindness and care to her, Jem and Dill. She is able to end her fear because of frequent experiences with Boo in chapter 26, Scout mentions,

“The Radley Place had ceased to terrify me, but it was no less gloomy, no less chilly under its great oaks, and no less uninviting ……… Boo Radley was the least of our fears. (Chapter 26).

With Scout’s maturity, she is able to see Boo according to his true personality. She has lost her fear of him. She knew that Boo was innocent and had a kind personality, as he has done nothing bad to anything and is only a victim of rumors and false information.

Scout is quite an intelligent child and is better than her class fellows in terms of her learning. Before getting admission to her class, she is well equipped with the knowledge, as she is always interested to accompany her father in reading. When she shows her learned knowledge in her class, in place of being appreciated, she is insulted by her teacher in spite of her constant refusal related to her knowledge acquirement by the help of her father asks her to stop getting an education from her father because it is erroneous. Scout endures the distaste felt by Mrs. Caroline and still shows concern towards her as at her upset, she says:

“Had her conduct been more friendly toward me, I would have felt sorry for her. She was a pretty little thing” (Chapter 2).

Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a white woman was considered an innocent person by Scout due to which, she tried to support him in court. Although, Tom Robinson was announced guilty Scout knew that it was only due to racial prejudice by the white people. She says,

“…….I wished I was the Governor of Alabama for one day: I'd let Tom Robinson go so quick the Missionary Society wouldn't have time to catch its breath” (Chapter 24).

She knows that Tom Robinson is wrongly found guilty and will be killed wrongly like a mockingbird but she also knows that she keeps no capability of saving him due to which, she just wishes to help him in escaping. She is able to know the prejudiced attitudes shown by white people as in chapter 26, she gets upset because of Miss Gates's views related to Hitler and African Americans. Miss Gates shows hatred for Hitler because of his prejudiced persecution of the Jews while she is herself bigoted towards African Americans.

Scout as the protagonist of the story gains maturity with the development of the novel. She is able to judge evil and goodness found in elder people. She is not wholly unable to understand the prejudiced and biased attitudes of the elderly. She knows who is bad and who is good and she keeps the capability of telling people what she feels about varied aspects. She understands who is guilty and who is innocent as she supports Boo and Tom Robinson. The development in the character of Scout shows a profound change in her personality. From a naïve and innocent child, she becomes an understanding person who is able to differentiate between wrong and right. Read More