Essay About Harper Lees Final Lines And Years Development

To Kill A Mocking Bird
Essay Preview: To Kill A Mocking Bird
Report this essay
“Well, itd be sort of like shootin a mockingbird, wouldnt it?”
One of Harper Lees final lines is stated by Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout. She
is a pure hearted seven years old child as by this quote she has successfully accomplished
her two years development over the course of the novel. Scout is a remarkable portrayal
of Lees childhood, whose father was a lawyer as well. Maycomb County is the mirror
image of Monroeville, Alabama, the place where the writer lived during her early years.
The story takes place during the Great Depression and it is told from the point of view of
young Scout, who over the course of her last two years, has confronted several conflicts
involving hatred, prejudice and ignorance posed by the evil over her innocent world. As
Scout, the novels protagonist, progresses in age, her transition endures an undeniable
degree of emancipation from multiple points of view, contributing to the illustration of
several themes. Scouts experience as a naпve, five year old girl hardly had hardly
provided a protective shield against the social cruelties she had to acquaint because her
innocence created her difficulties in seeing the good or evil in people. Nevertheless, by
the end of the novel, her character gradually shifts to a more grown-up perspective due to
confrontations with different types of evil. She ultimately understands it and decides to
incorporate it into her understanding of the world. The seven-year-old Scout distinguishes
from the five year old through a visibly increased level of patience; her custom of using
violence as a means of intimidation or revenge disappears as well as her deep distaste for
her gender, finally accepting her identity.
Scout gradually commences to deviate from the naivety imposed in her way of
thinking and acting, by her age. Her credulity at the beginning of the novel is illustrated
by the gruesome description of Boo Radley, is only a rumor Jem had heard from a hardly
reliable source, Mrs. Stephanie Crawford: “He dined on raw squirrels and any cat he
could catch, thats why his hands were bloodstained,” (14). Quite understandable for her
fragile age, she does not distinguish between elements of reality and deception. Her
temporary opinion about Atticus in the first part of the novel when trying to convince
herself that he “cant do anything” (104) reveals the reflection of her fathers age in her
youthful eyes. She unfortunately ignores what is concealed beyond his feeble physic: “He
wore glasses. He was nearly blind in his left eye () He never went hunting, or played
poker or fish or drink or smoke. He sat in the living room and read,” (102, 103).
However, she soon learns her lesson later in the chapter that the fact Atticus has the
ability to take the life of a creature through his remarkable talent of shooting with a high
degree of accuracy does not represent a matter he feels proud of and therefore she comes
to realize that there are other forms of courage than her childish perceptions allow her to
see. Similarly, Scout discovers astonished that Boo Radley despite his rough reputation,
had treated her and her brother as if they were his children, offering them various
presents such as sweets, a medal and even mended Jems pants. She makes her first steps
in the full moral perspective as she addresses to Boo after he rescued them from Bob
Ewells coward attack, “Hey, Boo”, (310). She suddenly begins to show sympathy and
understanding to an individual who has just completed his transition from a “malevolent
phantom” to a man who lived in mystery, and finally to a real, materialized human being.
Her experience regarding Tom Robinsons unfair trial enrichea her with wisdom but it
did not destroy her faith in goodness. She sees the world through another persons eyes,
following Atticuss teachings and she shows this to him by arguing at her fathers
incredulity towards Mr. Ewells “accidental suicide” “Well, itd be sort of like shootin a
mockingbird, wouldnt it?”(317). Scout conclusively puts Atticuss theory in practice,
that it is a sin to destroy an innocent creature, Boo Radley, who had not been ill
intentioned. Important to mention is the fact that Scouts mentality is after all influenced
by Atticus, who installs a social conscience in her mind. Therefore Scout learns that
humanity had a great capacity for evil as well as for good and that evil can be diminished