To Kill A Mockingbird Adult Analysis

Harper Lee believes that younger kids, especially those not yet through primary school, have very different instinct compared to adults. They do not have the maturity to come up with multiple ways of handling situations, and often will not take the time to think about their actions before they go through with them. Children outgrow this as they mature, but it is something that takes many years, and depends thoroughly on the child. While this should be quite obvious, many times adults, younger and older, do not remember this. Throughout “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee utilizes young character’s words and actions to show that children's instincts are different than adults’ and mature as they age.
Regardless of whether children understand
what is happening or not, their first instinct is most often to try and comfort those close to them when something goes wrong. However, as a young human, they are not always able to do much to solve the problem, and often turn to talking as a way to fix situations or at the very least make them better. When a mob of townsfolk approaches Scout and co, she recognizes them as a threat, but only thinks to attempt to befriend them: “Mr. Cunningham displayed no interest in his son, so I tackled his entailment once more in a last ditch effort to make him feel at home” (Lee 205). Instead of how the adults in the scene might have tried have gone about the situation, Scout reverts to simple conversation. At only nine, she does not understand that more mentally developed people would have started arguing, which at the time could have prompted violence. She still seems to understand that the mob is a threat, but in a different way then Atticus does. Atticus realizes that it is not safe for the children, but Scout just sees them as ‘bad’. She realizes that action needs to be taken, but to her the best idea is to be friendly in hopes to calm them down or go away. During the fire at at Miss Maudie’s, Scout becomes worked up. Jem tries to calm her by saying “‘Don’t worry Scout, it ain’t time to worry yet’” (94). Jem could have gone off to help or found other ways to comfort Scout but instead he sticks to language. While even as people develop, they still stick to conversation to calm people down, they will also usually do something to make it better in addition to that. Jem is not quite at the age where other ways of comfort have entered his mind yet, so he sticks to what he knows has worked before: talking. An adult might have instinctively given Scout a hug or tried to distract her or gotten her some candy to make her feel better. Young kids do not recognize these as possibilities and therefore do not use them. They stick to what they believe they’ll have success with, which is talking through the problem, or even about something else entirely. Another instance where Scout is actually the one using the same technique is when the trial cause Dil to break down and she takes him outside to calm down: “‘Come on out under the trees,’ I said” (265). Scout does not understand exactly why Dill’s upset, but by telling him to sit under the tree she’s attempting to calm him down. She also goes on to discuss why he is disturbed instead of giving him a drink as Mr. Dolphus Raymond does. Scout does not seem to comprehend why Dill is bothered in the first place as someone older might be able but she does realize he’s upset. She interprets it differently, thinking that it must be the heat or lasting effects of him running away, but she still turns to talking to try and helping. While adults still frequently use conversation as a way to calm down, they use it because they’ve interpreted it to be the best way of dealing with the situation. Children turn to language and conversation on instinct when dealing with a situation because it is one of the few ways they are capable of dealing with situations.
Furthermore, unlike more matured adults, children instinctively correct anyone and everyone if they feel they may have made a mistake, usually without realizing that there may be other ways of thinking.
At the same time, kids often do not understand that doing so can cause repercussions because they believe they’re doing what is right. For instance, when Scout’s first grade teacher does not understand why a student will not accept a quarter, Scout goes on to tell her “‘Ah--Miss Caroline...he’s a Cunningham’”(26). She continues to explain that the Cunninghams do not take anything from anybody. In Scout’s mind, she’s helping Miss Caroline learn about the town. She believes that she’s saving the teacher from “subsequent mortification” (28). Scout did not think before standing up to ‘educate’ Miss Caroline and did not realize that maybe it was not necessary. It was her instinct, which happens to be very common in young kids. They often do not understand that in this case, knowledge of townsfolk naturally comes over time. About a day later, another student in the class answered Miss Caroline when she did not grasp why another student was behaving a certain way: ‘He’s one of the Ewells, ma’am’” (36). Both times the students’ do not realize that their teacher not knowing about the person in question is not something that needs fixing. Because of this, the students do not understand why it frustrates her so much. Miss Caroline is new to the area and is not used to it yet. To
her, the students trying to help is seen as disrespectful. The class, especially Scout, does not realize that their words could be seen as anything but them trying to help, it’s just their instinct. However, at other times, childrens’ corrective nature is used when trying to keep themselves out of trouble. At one point in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Mrs. Dubose accuses Jem of destroying her flowers, as well as those of another neighbor’s. He knows he did not do it and on instinct, denies it: “Jem, who hadn’t been near Miss Maudie’s Scuppernong arbor since last summer... issued a general denial”(135). Similar to the situations with Scout and her classmates, all feature young kids correcting adults because they feel it is right. None of them actually think through possible consequences or that it might just be better to let it go, but instead act on instinct. Unlike adults who often think through their options a bit more, children instinctively correct adults as well as their peers when they believe they are wrong.
Possibly the most common instinct among children is to become angry when they are told to do something they do not want to do, commonly resulting in screaming, crying, fighting, or all at once. Kids generally do not appreciate being told what to do, a realization that anyone spends more than ten minutes with a preschooler reaches. While children usually stop throwing temper tantrums around four years of age, many start realizing that crying and screaming still work until around second grade. Towards the middle of the novel, Atticus tells Scout to stop making noise. Her reaction is one that is quite common: “For no reason I felt myself beginning to cry, but I could not stop” (178). Scout does not enjoy being told what to do, especially by someone close to her, so she instinctively starts crying. Whether it’s to get what she wants, which would not be much in this case, or because she’s genuinely upset is not exactly clear however. Regardless, it is a quite childish reaction for a nine year old, but the kids in the town of Maycomb are a bit less matured as at nine, many were still in first grade. However, even as kids age into their teens and tweens the instinct is still there. An even more common reaction to being told what to do is screaming. When Jem tells Scout to stop antagonizing her aunt, Scout starts a miniscule fight, which results in her screaming “You damn morphodite, I’ll kill you” (184). Unlike crying, becoming verbally defensive is an instinct that starts young and as one ages, becomes more common, peaking in the teen and young adult years. Humans, especially young kids, hate being told what to do, and once they are less upset by it, they start becoming angered by it, resulting in yelling It’s an instinct that is normal in all ages, but is used a bit less with adults as they are more aware of the consequences. For example, most adults are aware that screaming at their bosses could result in job loss or other such possibilities. Children often will not stop and think of other ways to solve the situation in a better way. They just go directly to one response, in this case, yelling. The more children age, the more they understand that crying does not work the way it used to. Yelling however, gives a similar reaction without being thought of as a babyish way to get what they want. Naturally, it evolves into their first instinct. As The large difference between children’s instincts and adults’ is shown through younger character’s thoughts and actions in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingjay”.
Lee proves that young children instinctively try to calm others down when they are upset but as they are not capable of as much as adults are, they often stick to talking. She also shows that if kids feel someone has made a mistake, they will instinctively correct them, instead of thinking through the consequences first as adults often do. Moreover, the author demonstrates that, when told what to do, children naturally become angry and react negatively. In contrast, adults may still become annoyed, but they stop and think about how to handle the situation instead of reacting on
instinct.