Maturation of Scout in to Kill a Mockingbird

Children will always begin in the world with a fresh slate, A start to life where there are no prejudices or horrible life experiences to corrupt their conscience. However as people grow and change, They learn about the values and morals of their society. Such values, pertaining to “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, include the essence of courage, the ability to “look the other way”, and finally the compassion to be able to see the world in someone else’s eyes. To Kill a Mockingbird focuses on the depravity of American society and beliefs, and the capacity it takes to overcome it. Scout learns valuable life lessons through her own experiences as well as the people who surround her, and as a result is an understanding, unprejudiced girl.
Scout begins as a young, unaware girl who is often acting without thinking, and shrinking away from her problems. For example, On the first day of school, Scout has a disagreement with one of the teachers about reading, which prompts her to beg her father, Atticus, “Please don’t make me go back”, reiterating the idea that Scout hides from her issues. However Atticus begins to teach her to see things through Caroline Fisher’s point of view. Scout shows improvement already by pointing out that every society is different and that they “could not expect her to learn all Maycomb's ways in one day." Without Atticus to nurture Scouts mind and teach her good from evil, she would not have developed into the girl she is by the end of the book. Similarly, in the novel “Of Mice and Men”, George explains to Lennie “We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us.”, legitimizing that if you don’t have people in the world that you look to for guidance, as Atticus does to Scout, then you will not learn from your past.
Scout is evolving further into the novel and has begun to sympathize with other characters as well as understand the world around her. She demonstrates that she has learned from Atticus’s advice when Jem is acting despondent after going to Boo Radley’s house, “I tried to climb into Jem's skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next day. So I left Jem alone and tried not to bother him." proving that she is growing into a more attentive girl, and is no longer naïve to other people’s actions. As Tom Robinson’s accused rape trial progresses, Scout questions her entire town’s motives and doesn’t understand why they are acting with such bigotry, “Who in this town did anything to help Tom Robinson, just who?” Scout exhibits one of the most prevalent questions in not only the book, but a major theme in history. In the pledge of Allegiance, it clearly states “One nation…with liberty and justice for all.” Scout is able to realize that someone should be judged not by their skin color, but the circumstances of their character, a feat most of the adults in her town couldn’t manage.
Towards the end of the story, Scout has gotten over her fears of society and can finally “walk in other people’s shoes”. She says when finally at Boo Radley’s house, "I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle,” exhibiting her newfound growth and understanding of people. She finally lives up to Atticus’s words to her, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view--until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” Scout finally had the ability to see from another person’s view, showcasing perfectly her maturation from the beginning of the novel. In the song “Help on the way” by Grateful Dead, they sing “Crippled but free, I was blind all the time I was learning to see”, which applies superbly to Scout. The whole time she was growing up she was trying to learn her ways, but was making mistakes, in a since “blind”. Likewise, some of her opinions in the beginning were prejudged, like that of Boo Radley, she was “crippled but free”. By the end of the novel Scout has finally learned to see and is a compassionate girl.
Scout portrays the classic coming of age story. She matures from a young, impulsive child to a rational girl. Over the course of the book, approximately 3 years, Scout endures many experiences, both good and bad, that shape her to the unselfish person she is by the end of the story. These events include the trial of Tom Robinson, Atticus shooting the old dog, and her difficulties with Boo Radley. Scout becomes an independent thinker, who is not affected by the society around her, which is one of the most undervalued but accomplished morals a person can gain.