Tag: thematic questions

Before Reading the Book :

When one loses their innocence, they change their views and ideas about the world. They gain knowledge and become more mature as they learn more about their lives and their societies.

During the Reading of the Book:

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, the author describes the loss of innocence that Jem and Scout experience and their individual development to maturity. Since Scout does not mature a lot throughout the novel, the main focus is Jem and Boo Radley.

One example of Jem’s maturity is when he finds Dill hiding under Scout’s bed after running away from home. Jem leaves aside their childhood ideas of tattle-telling and he informs Atticus of Dill’s presence. Even though Scout and Dill called Jem a traitor, he knew that he did the right thing. Jem says, “Dill I had to tell him… You can’t run three hundred miles off without your mother knowin’.” (Lee 188) By seeking help from an adult, Jem shows his maturity. He knows that telling Atticus was more right than keeping their childhood ideas of not telling on one another.

Another example of Jem losing his innocence entirely is at the end of the novel when the trial took place. He realizes the reality of Maycomb. He realizes that it is not where everyone is nice and friendly (like he used to think). He understands that Maycomb is full of racism and prejudice. When he sees Tom Robinson getting declared as guilty, he gets frustrated because he knows that it is not right and he knows that it is racism. “It was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered, all the way to the corner of the square where we found Atticus waiting.” (Lee 284) This shows us that he has grown and matured to the point where he understands the cruel world around him.

Last but not least, an example of Boo Radley losing his innocence is when he was just a child. He got in trouble with the law and his father imprisoned him in his own house. Because of the harsh punishment, Boo grew up without a real life and he lived like a prisoner in his own home. By locking Boo inside the house, Mr. Radley denied the chance for Boo to live a normal life. This affects Boo’s maturity because he probably isn’t the most mature person because he has not gone out into the actual world and he barely knows anything about life outside the house. A quote from the novel showing how Boo Radley was locked up is “The doors of the Radley house were closed on weekdays as well as Sundays, and Mr. Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen years.” (Lee 13)

In an article titled Is Maturity Reverse of Innocence? it says that maturity means accepting the reality as it is and living in the present. It also says that innocence in children is when they lack most knowledge. This means that when kids lack most knowledge, they will not think of their lives, societies, and problems because they have not learned how to deal with any of them yet. However, when kids gain knowledge, they lose their innocence. This loss of innocence leads to maturity because when someone has knowledge, they use it in real life situations to help them. This demonstrates maturity because the person would use knowledge to apply it to the real world. Also, the person would become more mature because they will act and think differently since they have gained new views about the world.

After Reading the Book:

After reading the novel, I have came to a conclusion that one’s loss of innocence relates to their maturity because as you gain more knowledge, you use it to solve everyday problems and conflicts you might face. Losing innocence sometimes, but not always, is caused by gaining knowledge because you have new views and ideas about the world.

Written by: Layal Fateh