How Does Ignorance Play A Role In Scout's Education

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the point of view of a six year-old girl named Scout. Due to her naivety, her perspective on the world is very narrow. When serious issues suddenly enter her life, her ignorance often clouds her judgment. However, she learns from those situations and becomes wiser from them. People, ideas, and events educate her about the immoral ways people are treated in her home, Maycomb County, Alabama. Even though children can be ignorant about real life events, ignorance can be combatted with an education. Scout begins her education through the teachings of Atticus and Calpurnia. They play central roles in the education of Scout and open her eyes to the reality of Maycomb through blunt information. They are not afraid to shield her from the truths of society, whether it is someone’s financial situation or the treatment of others. Scout makes many judgmental comments about the differences of others; however, she doesn’t know that “you never really …show more content…
It changes Scout’s point of view of society. She forms a respect for blacks and realizes how poorly they are treated in Maycomb. Before the trial, she barely understands what Tom is accused of. She has to ask her father what rape is. Her ignorance also shows when she believes Tom has a chance of winning the trial. However, after she watches the testimony at the trial, she realizes the severity of the events. Tom never could have won. In Maycomb County, a black man’s word will never win against a white man’s. Scout understands the prejudiced society she lives in. After all, “how can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?” (247). People can hate a horrible man like Hitler but feel no shame in treating the black men around them like garbage. This realization shows that after being educated by the trial, Scout without a doubt becomes a wiser young