To Kill A Mocking Bird

"Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"

One of Harper Lee's 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 Lee's 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 novel's protagonist, progresses in age, her transition endures an undeniable

degree of emancipation from multiple points of view, contributing to the illustration of

several themes. Scout's 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, that's 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 "can't do anything" (104) reveals the reflection of her father's 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 Jem's pants. She makes her first steps

in the full moral perspective as she addresses to Boo after he rescued them from Bob

Ewell's 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 Robinson's unfair trial enrichea her with wisdom but it

did not destroy her faith in goodness. She sees the world through another person's eyes,

following Atticus's teachings and she shows this to him by arguing at her father's

incredulity towards Mr. Ewell's "accidental suicide" "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a

mockingbird, wouldn't it?"(317). Scout conclusively puts Atticus's 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 Scout's 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

...