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Kenzie Wilson

Ms. Starry

English

27 October 2017

Scout Development Essay

To Scout, in the novel ​To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the world is not just black

and white. In the beginning of the novel Scout learns that it is socially acceptable to treat people

of color as less than whites, however she grows as a character and learns the world isn't like that

at all. In the beginning, Scout was too influenced by the social norms, that make her who she is,

yet she doesn't remain that way. Throughout the whole book, Scout changes as she matures

learning valuable life lessons from her father to not misjudge others before she truly gets to know

them.

In Maycomb, like other cities throughout the US in the 1930s, the society is heavily

based on segregation. Almost everybody is prejudice towards people of different color and there

is a lot of discrimination because of that. For Scout, being brought up in this society, this is a

normal thing to do. She was raised being taught that people of color were inferior to her. She

doesn’t know what to do therefore she just follows the example of those around her. Scout turns

to her father when asking a question about what he does as a lawyer. Scout was curious to know

if Atticus, “defends n*****” (Lee 85). Atticus responds by saying, “‘... of course I do. Don’t say

n*****, Scout, that's common” to which Scout replies “’s what everybody at school says“ (Lee

85). So when Scout states that, “[that’s] what everybody at school says,” (Lee 85) it shows how
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that type of language is normal and that it is fine to say those types of derogatory terms in their

society. All the way through the book, those are the types of expressions that Scout says and

hears from others, and these terms are normal for her.

Scout changes from the beginning of the book to the end, and the reason for that is Atticus,

her father. He taught Scout that everybody is equal and they should be treated like it. Scout is

curious to know her father’s stance on people of color and whether or not he is a,

“n*****-lover,” (Lee 124) and he responds with, “ I certainly am. I do my best to love

everybody…” (Lee 124) By telling Scout this, it shows her that she should be nice towards

everybody, and to love everybody, as her father does. Scout learns from this experience and

matures as a person. She is taught that nobody is inferior to her and that all people were created

equal.

Atticus tells Scout all throughout the book that, “you never really know a man until you

stand in his shows and walk around in them” (Lee 322). This is one of the major themes of the

book. Many people in this society often treat people of different races unfairly. People of color

are normally treated horribly. They believe that, “all ne***** lie, that all ne***** are basically

immoral beings, that all ne***** are not to be trusted…” (Lee 233) An example of that prejudice

would be the Tom Robinson case. Tom was one of Atticus’s clients who was accused of a

horrible crime, which he didn’t do. Nobody in the city truly knows Tom, yet they are all fine

with charging him for crimes that he did not commit. They all judged him before they got to

know him. Scout’s behaviour reflects the others actions and would often make assumptions

about others similarly to how the society did. Since Atticus points this out to Scout, she learns
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that she shouldn’t make assumptions about people of color and that she should not judge

anybody, before she truly gets to know their situation.

Throughout the book, the readers can see Scout’s transformation as a character, and her

growing up in the book. Her character changes as she matures and she knows not to always

follow what everybody believes to be normal. She has grown as a person and is treating

everybody as an equal. The influence of her father affected Scout and made her the person she is

at the end of the book.

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Works Cited

Lee, Harper. ​To Kill A Mockingbird. ​New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1960.