To Kill A Mockingbird Scout's Innocence Essay

Losing one’s innocence, or rather the simple act of growing up is inevitable. The children of primary focus in Harper Lee’s classic, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, succumb to their eventual fate by evolving into mature characters with help from the influential events in the town.
These occurrences in Maycomb eradicate the naïvety of the children to prepare them for the real world. Scout initially begins to lose her prevalent innocence when her cousin subjects her to the use of derogatory tongue. Additionally, the two most significant deaths evoke a maturation in Jem when he realizes the subject matter involved in one of the two. Bob Ewell’s subsequent vengeance moreover eradicates all indications of Scout’s innocence as violence, revenge and murder
The diction of the citizens in Alabama proves that the town is predominantly racist, however, Scout does not embrace the use of these words due to her family teaches her otherwise. Being the susceptible child she is, Scout hears the most common derogatory name for people of colour and uses it in her speech. She does this hoping to prove she can assimilate with the town crowd, whom she often hears using this word. In due time, one of Scout’s peers at school makes an uncivil remark about her father because of his choice to defend a black man. Scout attempts to refute this, yet she does not know how. Shortly, she questions Atticus, asking if he defends men of colour. Scout’s use of the infamous “n-word” in her question provokes her father to correct her by saying, “Do [not] say nigger, Scout” (99). Aside from the fact that he is indeed her father, Scout rarely ignores Atticus; she appreciates his lessons as she genuinely learns from them. Despite not even knowing the definition of the word she so flippantly used, Scout ensures to not repeat it. Being subjected to profane language has now taken a toll on her innocence. With this in mind, Scout is enraged when her cousin uses this word in context when describing her father. Solely knowing that the word is used in a derogatory sense, it seems to be an insult toward the man she respects the most. The unrelenting impulse to take out her physical anger causes Scout to inflict a facial wound upon her cousin, which results in a reprimanding from her uncle. Her Uncle Jack inquires about what could have possibly incited her to take such rash actions, which earns a reply from Scout, “Francis called Atticus somethin’… A nigger lover. I ain’t very sure what it means, but the way Francis said it-” (114). Due to the aforementioned caution from Atticus about the usage of that word and despite not knowing the