To Kill a Mockingbird Growing Up Theme Analysis (Essay Example)

Travyon Martin was a high school student carrying a bag of Skittles in his pocket while walking home, in which a Caucasian man perceived Martin as suspicious, so the man’s response was to shoot and kill Martin.  Kyle Rittenhouse was a high school student attending a Black Lives Matter protest carrying an assault rifle, in which he was thanked by and received water from police.  Rittenhouse proceeded to murder two men and was not arrested until the following day.  Now, which one of these teenagers was African American?  The fact of the matter is that you already know Travyon Martin was the African American teenager because injustices targeting African American people transpire throughout our country every day.  We generally maintain the misconception that the abolishing of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement eradicated racism, but that concept stands far from true.  The lives of African American people in our country are far from fair, as is demonstrated in the American classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  The novel views the lives of two children stepping into the world of the unknown in the deep South.  In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee demonstrates the idea that learning unpleasant and important lessons contains the key to maturing and growing up through the characters of Scout and Jem Finch.

Lee demonstrates through Jem Finch that part of growing up is realizing life is simply not fair.  Jem initially believes in the image that all people have moral and equal beliefs.  Atticus, Jem’s father, defends Tom Robinson, an African American man accused of raping a Caucasian woman.  Atticus presents evidence stacked in the favor of Tom Robinson.  Jem becomes greatly confident the jury will acquit Tom Robinson, so he assures Reverend Sykes, “‘don’t fret, we’ve won it,’ [Jem] said wisely. ‘Don’t see how any jury could convict on what we heard—’”  (279).  Jem believes the jury will solely take into account the evidence, in which he is deeply mistaken.  Jem’s eyes are not yet opened to the racial prejudices altering the jury’s verdict, no matter the evidence presented.  Jem finally learns the inequity of life when the jury announces the guilty verdict.  Jem is in awe of the verdict and has a complete meltdown walking outside the courtroom.  The day following the trial, Miss Maudie invites Scout, Jem, and Dill over for cake as they discuss the trial.  Jem reveals to Miss Maudie, “I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like” (288).  Jem has changed his views as he now sees that Tom Robinson was convicted because life is not fair as the people of Maycomb have prejudiced beliefs trumping any evidence provided in the trial.  Jem understands that Tom Robinson was convicted by the color of his skin, and if he was Caucasian, he would have been acquitted.

Similar to Jem, Scout exhibits an essential aspect of growing up: learning to stand in others’ shoes and considering life from their perspective.  Scout initially forms prejudices towards Boo Radley based on his cover.  Scout and Jem base these prejudices on prejudiced stories and rumors they hear from their neighbors in Maycomb.  According to Jem’s description, Boo Radley appears, “ about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (16).  Scout and Jem have never had any interactions with, yet even witnessed Boo Radley.  The children immediately form prejudices based on the ideas of others in Maycomb instead of taking quality time to get to know Boo.  Scout and Jem view Boo Radley more as a rabid creature than a human being with thoughts and feelings.  Scout decides to take a walk in Boo’s shoes, entirely transforming the way she considers Boo.  Near the end of the novel, Boo protects Scout and Jem from an attack committed by Bob Ewell.  Following the attack, Scout walks Boo home.  As Scout steps up onto the porch, Scout witnesses the world from the perspective of Boo, “winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog” (374), and finally realizes “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (374).  After taking the time to stand in Boo’s shoes and truly see from his perspective, Scout does not consider  Boo Radley a rabid creature, but a shy, loving, and caring human being that wants to stay inside because of the prejudices he will face from others if he steps outside.  Scout’s changing views of Boo Radley emphasize her maturity by learning to stand in others’ shoes.