What Is The Loss Of Innocence In To Kill A Mockingbird

Even in the pages before To Kill a Mockingbird, the author includes a quote preluding to the loss of innocence throughout the story. Charles Lamb said, “Lawyers, I suppose, were children once,” (Lee) I believe Harper Lee chose to include this quote before the story started to lead into the theme of children losing their innocence. Through this quote she insinuates that the heartless people we have in society today (not necessarily lawyers) were once innocent children. Basically, throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee implies that children lose their innocence as they are confronted with difficulties such as runaways, prejudice, and attempted murders. To Kill a Mockingbird is a popular story written by Harper Lee and is considered, “of rare excellence...a novel of strong and contemporary national significance,” (Chicago Tribune). The book tells a story from the view of a young girl who
In chapter 14, Dill explains to Jem and Scout that he felt the most accepted in Maycomb and his life in Meridian-although full of luxuries-was missing a supportive family. On page 190, Scout asks about the boat Dill said his father was going to build with him, to which Dill responds, “He just said we would. We never did,” (Lee 190). This shows that Dill’s parents cared little about him, and so Dill took it into his own hands. Dill lost some of his innocence when he ran away as he was barely 11-12 and normally kids aren’t mature enough to make a decision like the one he made. Another example of loss of innocence is when Jem revealed Dill’s running away to Atticus. Scout described this stating that, “...he rose and broke the remaining code of our childhood,” (Lee 187). Jem had been over exposed to the troubles of Maycomb and took it upon himself to act like an adult and turn Dill over to Atticus. Thus proving that Dill and Jem had lost innocence as they experienced events in