To Kill a Mocking Bird - Character Development

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows that we must treat others without judgment and insolence by using the character development of Scout and Jem Finch. She expresses the maturation of the two in a racist and hostile society. The journey these two characters go on is short, and a new mentality is somewhat forced upon them in unpleasant circumstances, however these strong two pull through. They learn to understand society and how to live in it. They learn life lessons through their father Atticus, and how “Most people are nice when you finally see them” (p.284). Thanks to Atticus’ wisdom and raising, Scout comes a long way from her immature self at the beginning of the novel in realizing that humanity has great evil, but also has great good. Scout is introduced early on to evil in the form of racial prejudice and these experiences are carried with her to young adulthood. At the beginning of the novel, Scout is young, innocent, and sometimes disrespectful. In the early chapters, Scout makes some rude remarks towards Calpurnia, the maid. Scout suggests that Atticus have her fired after she gets in trouble. When she comes the conclusion that “(Calpurnia) likes Jem better’n me anyway.” and “suggested that Atticus lose no time in packing her off” (25), it shows how inconsiderate Scout is being towards Calpurnia. Also early in the novel Scout, Jem and Dill are afraid of Boo Radley, they think he is a monster and try to play tricks on him. They don’t know Boo Radley and have never seen him, yet still judge him on stories they have only heard. They feel threatened by him, and are scared to go on his property. This childlike behavior is a perfect example of how much room Scout has to grow. Scout also had the immature habit of getting into fistfights that started by the slightest provocation. When Jem had told Scout to stop beating up Walter Cunningham, he asked why she was fighting him in the first place. All Scout could say in response was “He didn’t have any