Coming Of Age To Kill A Mockingbird

Recognizing and understanding the perspectives of others can and will be very challenging in life but it is an important thing that everyone need to know. Sometimes a person may need to understand others perspectives in order for them to be able to go on to the next step. These types of situations will come early in life which is why it is important to learn at a young age. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee she shows the theme that coming of age involves recognizing others perspectives through many literary devices, like symbol and conflict.
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird the author Harper Lee uses symbol to show the theme coming of age involves recognizing different perspectives. The great thing about having a symbol in the writing is that you might not figure out that something is a symbol until the end of the book or until someone explains the significance to you. For example, the term “to kill a mockingbird is a sin” comes up multiple times in the book as a symbol telling Scout and Jem not to bother innocent people. This symbol shows that coming of age involves recognizing different perspectives because Jem and Scout did not notice that they were bothering Arthur Radley until Atticus told them that maybe he just likes to be by himself and that they should not try to get him out when he is doing nothing bad to them or anyone else. He was basically being a mockingbird because he did nothing to cause harm and he was there to help when he saw someone in need
of help.. When Atticus told Jem and Scout this they got an insight of how Arthur Radley might feel, in other words they were looking in someone else’s perspective. Another example, would be the tree this was a form of communication and a way Arthur Radley was being a good neighbor. Whenever Jem and Scout found something in the tree it was a gift to them or whoever found the object. In the movie To Kill a Mockingbird at the end we find out that when Scout was older she understood why Arthur put those things in the tree, while others came and gave them a variety of home cooked dishes Arthur gave them gifts and their lives. In these two examples the characters had to recognize the way others thought in order to understand their reason to do certain things.
Harper Lee also uses conflict in her book to show the theme. One main conflict would be the trial, the way people thought about the trial and the verdict of the trial was all something that could be understood by everyone if they would look into that other person’s perspective. For example, when Mr. Gilmer was asking questions to Tom Robinson when he was at the stand and he was basically verbally abusing him with the way he talked Dill felt physically sick because of the cruelty that Mr. Gilmer had towards Tom. Dill didn't understand how Mr. Gilmer treated Tom with that much disrespect because he saw Atticus treating everyone with the same respect no matter who they were and what they did. Scout on the other hand was able to understand why Mr. Gilmer was acting the way he was because she grew up with a father as a lawyer so she knows how a prosecutor would act against the defendant in order to get what they want. Dill was not able to understand Mr. Gilmer’s perspective while everyone else could because they knew how and what he was thinking. Also at that time people thought all black people were bad and they were very prejudiced towards them so they understood that. But Dill has an innocent mind that did that have any prejudice thoughts towards others. Therefore, this would be a time where Dill did not show coming of age because he was not able to understand the way others thought on a topic. Maybe after Scout explained why Mr. Gilmer was so disrespectful he understood but sometimes people need to understand others perspective without others telling you.
In conclusion, author Harper Lee uses Literary devices like symbol and conflict in her book To Kill a Mockingbird to show the theme that coming of age involves noticing and understanding others perspectives.
This is a very important thing that everyone needs to learn because this is used every day in all places; at work, at home, in between family members. Conflicts will arise and needing to look at the perspectives of others will be a crucial part in finding a solution to satisfy
everyone.