Scout’s Loss of Innocence in To Kill a Mockingbird (Essay Example)

One’s childlike perspective of the world unravels into a darker reality as they get older. With adults no longer sugarcoating serious topics, connections begin to form and result in a more mature outlook in life. Harper Lee represents loss of innocence in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, with Scout’s character and her interactions with different types of people with a variety of world views. Some of these people include her Aunt Alexandra, Miss Caroline, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. Scout may have negative realizations but also matures for the better.

Through her interactions with adults and lessons taught by them, Scout gradually loses her child-like innocence and her sense of self. An example of this is how Miss Caroline, Scout’s teacher, acts towards her. When Scout tells her that Atticus taught her how to read, Miss Caroline shuts her down and wants to use her own methods of teaching. Miss Caroline says, “‘Let’s not let our imaginations run away with us, dear,’ (Miss Caroline) said. ‘Now you tell your father not to teach you any more. It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind. You tell him I’ll take over from here and try to undo the damage.’ ‘Ma’am?’ ‘Your father does not know how to teach. You can have a seat now,’” (chapter 2). Scout is confused because she thought it was good she was already learning to read. Scout’s aunt, Aunt Alexandra, is another adult who tries to change Scout to conform to her own standards. Scout has always been more of a tomboy, but when Aunt Alexandra moves in, she is constantly criticized for not wearing dresses and told to act more ladylike. Aunt Alexandra takes Scout to a Maycomb’s female socialite event and is upset when she finds out Tom Robinson died. She starts crying, but when she goes back out to the ladies, she acts as nothing happened. “She patted her hair and said, ‘Do I show it?’” Scout notices that Aunt Alexandra is acting a different way than when she acts around her brother, Atticus. Scout notes that one day, she will have to “....enter this world, where on its surface fragrant ladies rocked slowly, fanning gently, and drank cool water.” (pg. 266). Overall, Scout sees how adults change the way they act around certain groups to belong and the weight of societal pressures. 

Scout also learns that she should not make assumptions about people. Scout and Jem, her older brother, are terrified of their unseen neighbor, Boo Radley. They believe stories about Boo Radley eating squirrels and are always scared to walk past his house. Jem describes him as “... about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained….There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time.” (chapter 1). This can be a relatable aspect of many people’s childhoods with being scared of something they know nothing about. When Bob Ewell tries to attack Scout and Jem, Boo Radley kills Bob and saves them. When Scout meets Boo, his real name being Arthur, she finally sees him as his true self and gets emotional from this newfound awareness, “...but as I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears. ‘Hey, Boo,’ I said.” (chapter 30). Arther Radley turns out to be the person leaving gifts in the tree, such as the soap carvings, and in general, he was always subtly there during Scout’s childhood. Scout develops from thinking with her wild, childlike imagination to now having gained a new, positive perspective on viewing people. 

The Tom Robinson case had a significant impact on the children, opening their eyes to the hatred and racial injustice in their town. In the novel, which is set in 1930’s Alabama, Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping a young white woman. Scout and Jem Finchs’ father, who is a lawyer, steps up to defend him in the trial. This leads to a build-up of many events, forcing Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill to come to terms with the prejudice in their town and forever changing the trajectory of their lives. During the trial, it is quite obvious that Tom Robinson is innocent, and is just a nice guy who sympathized with Mayella, yet he is found guilty. The children can’t fathom how the jury came to that conclusion. They are all left distraught having to turn to the adults. After the trial, Jem asks his father, “‘Atticus---’...said Jem bleakly. ‘How could they do it, how could they?’ ‘I don't know, but they did it. They've done it before and they did it tonight and they'll do it again and when they do it--- seems that only children weep.’” (chapter 22). Atticus acknowledges the racial injustice that is so embedded into Maycomb to the point where adults are desensitized to it, while the children are innocent enough to genuinely question it. During the trial, Scout has a conversation with Dolphus Raymond, and he says Scout, “(hasn’t) seen enough of the world yet. (She) (hasn’t) even seen this town, but all (she) gotta do is step back inside the courthouse.’” (chapter 20). The arrangement of the courthouse is very revealing to the intolerance in Maycomb, with black people having to sit in a separate section. When reading Mr. Underwood’s editorial about Tom Robinson, Scout realizes, “Atticus had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men's hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed.” (chapter 25). This shows Scout’s awareness of racism and that no matter how convincing Atticus’s case for Tom Robinson was, people would always believe a white woman’s words over a black man’s. Scout’s growth is also shown when her teacher Miss Gates is talking about the Holocaust and Scout remembers Miss Gates talking negatively about black people at the courthouse. Scout says "How can you hate Hitler so bad an' then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?" (pg. 282-283) showing that she is mature enough to see Miss Gates’ hypocrisy. Ultimately, the Tom Robinson case opens Scout’s and the other childrens’ eyes to the hate and discrimination in Maycomb and how adults react to it. 

Thus, To Kill A Mockingbird exemplifies what it is like to grow up and shows how your worldview changes. Harper Lee’s representation of loss of innocence through Scout feels very authentic and can draw parallels to real life. Loss of innocence is a universal experience, and while it sounds distressing, it also can develop you into a better person with a strengthened mindset. Scout develops this mindset through interactions with various characters in the novel and learns important aspects of the world around her. The reader follows her growth from a little girl with an overactive imagination and singular worldview to be more mature and open-minded.