To Kill A Mockingbird Quote Analysis

Before the beginning of the book To Kill A Mockingbird, there is a quote by Charles Lamb: “Lawyers, I suppose,” he says, “were children once.” To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published in 1960 and has been widely read since then. It is the story of children growing up in the mid- Great Depression South and of the life lessons they learn. Through the events of the book, the characters Dill, Jem, and Scout show the theme of losing one’s childhood and innocence. The first character to lose their innocence was Dill Harris. One example of this is when he feels unwelcome and useless at home; when Scout asks why he had run away, he replies that “...what I’m trying to say is- they do get on a lot better without me, I don’t help them any” (143). Feeling isolated at home, the place where one hopes to be welcomed without exception, was a crushing and adult feeling for Dill. It had already aged him prematurely once he ran away from home to Maycomb. Another
An important example of this is when she hears about the death of Tom and has to maintain face, because she knows that “...if Aunty could be a lady in a time like this, so could I” (237). It would have been a perfectly reasonable reaction to throw a tantrum or fuss about since Scout had cared so much about the case. However, she recognized she needed to keep a level head in the presence of others even though she was shaken, which takes maturity. Later in the book, her loss of innocence is shown when Bob Ewell attacks her and Jem with a knife as they walked home in the dark. She was left frightened and worried because it hadn’t seemed like a possibility that Mr. Ewell would hurt them to get to Atticus. Scout views life in a different way after the attack since it is revealed the whole book was a flashback. Scout was a strong, independent character who ultimately lost her innocence by the things she