To Kill a Mockingbird -From Childhood to Adolescent in Less essays

To Kill a Mockingbird -From Childhood to Adolescent in Less essays From Childhood to Adolescent in Less than 250 Pages To Kill A Mockingbird is a perfect example of racism and unfair judgments about people. The primary message in the novel is that of racism and how the actions of a community, not just a parent, affect children. The secondary message is about how unfair judgments about people are wrong and cruel. Both the racism and judgment themes are brought to life and dealt with by following the maturation of Jem and his younger sister, Scout. Both Scout and Jem mature throughout the book but Jem, being on the brink of adolescence, makes the greatest leaps in maturation. As readers, we see Jem mature and grow as a person. He learns many things, but also loses many things. As he grew up and changes, he begins to see how things really were, and gains the knowledge of the pure hate that one man can show another. Jem loses his innocence when he finds this out. He begins to see how cruel the world can be to someone who is a little different or strange. He sees this in the prejudice that is shown to Tom Robinson, Walter Cunningham and Miss Maudie. Jem also matures as he gains the wisdom of the world outside his back door and he begins to see how society works, (it is very cruel and cynical). Jems father, Atticus teaches Jem and Scout to be polite, caring kids. He instills in them a great sense of love for their neighbor and tells them things that will help them get on in life. Jem is very lucky to have someone to guide him along the way. Although he is faced with the real world, he had lots of people who willingly explain to him and guide him. Finally, we see how Jem matures by seeing how his relationships change with his father, Atticus; his sister, Scout; and his neighbor, Boo Radley. For example, Jems relation to Atticus starts out as the basic child-father relationship. But as the story progresses, he begins to see what a great man he is. He realizes that by de ...