Theme Of Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

There is a point in everybody's lives that they are happy and carefree but as they mature they see how terrible the world can actually be. It is then that they are no longer innocent. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the young protagonist Scout grows up with her brother Jem and her father Atticus. Scout and her family live in a small prejudice town called Maycomb, Alabama. She experiences many challenges in her life including, her brother who is growing up and not knowing how to handle him. But within the course of the book, she looses a lot of her innocents. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee uses characterization to display that the loss of innocence as people are exposed to evil or harmful events. As Scout grows and gets exposed to more events that are harmful or evil her innocence slowly fades. A harmful event Scout is introduced to is name calling and how hurtful that can be. Scout asked her father, “what exactly is a nigger-lover?’ Atticus’s …show more content…
Jem faces lots of people that are harmful to him and his family. After hearing about the treat Atticus asks Jem, “What’s bothering you, son?’ Jem came to the point: ‘Mr. Ewell.’ ‘What has happened?’ ‘Nothing’s happened. we’re scared for you, we think you oughta do something about him.” (292) After Jem hears about the threat to kill his father from Mr. Ewell, Jem sees how serious this whole deal is and is scared for his father, losing part of his youth. Another event that Jem experiences is when Atticus is at the jail. Jem hears the men say, “You know what we want,” another man said. “Get aside from the door, Mr Finch.” “You can turn around and go home again, Walter,” Atticus said pleasantly.” (202) Jem sees these people wanting to kill Tom Robinson as he loses some of his innocence. When Jem sees and experiences these harmful events, this causes him to mature and lose his innocence he