Innocence to Experience, in Harper Lee's to Kill a Mockingbird
Innocence to Experience
"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the
streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square."(Lee
9). This environment, as Scout Finch accurately describes, is not conducive to young children, loud
noises, and games. But, the Finch children and Dill must occupy themselves in order to avoid
boredom. Their surroundings are their boundaries, but in their minds, they have no physical confines.
Although the physical "boundaries were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose's house two doors to the
north..., and the Radley Place three doors to the south,"(Lee 11) Jem, Scout, and Dill find ways to
use the limits, in conjunction with their imaginations, to amuse themselves. The children are the ones
who change the old town and make it full of unexpected events. In the same way as the children, the
adults of the novel play games that come from their imaginations and, they themselves are the ones
who provide the fear for everyone in the county to fear. "Maycomb County had recently been told
that it had nothing to fear but fear itself"(10). The adults and the children share the fact that they both
play games, but a difference also exists between them. The children enact their entertainment,
knowing that the games could get violent, but in the end, when the games are over, all the players are
able to return home. On the other hand, the adults play their adult games, hurting anyone who does
not play by the given rules, and not everyone is fortunate enough to return home. The children
pretend to be violent at times but the adults actually are violent. As the children move through the
novel, they use these games to develop from their innocence to a level of experience by actualizing
the realities of their games through the lives of the adults. Through their own games and through the
games of the adults, the children learn values of respect,
"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the
streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square."(Lee
9). This environment, as Scout Finch accurately describes, is not conducive to young children, loud
noises, and games. But, the Finch children and Dill must occupy themselves in order to avoid
boredom. Their surroundings are their boundaries, but in their minds, they have no physical confines.
Although the physical "boundaries were Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose's house two doors to the
north..., and the Radley Place three doors to the south,"(Lee 11) Jem, Scout, and Dill find ways to
use the limits, in conjunction with their imaginations, to amuse themselves. The children are the ones
who change the old town and make it full of unexpected events. In the same way as the children, the
adults of the novel play games that come from their imaginations and, they themselves are the ones
who provide the fear for everyone in the county to fear. "Maycomb County had recently been told
that it had nothing to fear but fear itself"(10). The adults and the children share the fact that they both
play games, but a difference also exists between them. The children enact their entertainment,
knowing that the games could get violent, but in the end, when the games are over, all the players are
able to return home. On the other hand, the adults play their adult games, hurting anyone who does
not play by the given rules, and not everyone is fortunate enough to return home. The children
pretend to be violent at times but the adults actually are violent. As the children move through the
novel, they use these games to develop from their innocence to a level of experience by actualizing
the realities of their games through the lives of the adults. Through their own games and through the
games of the adults, the children learn values of respect,