Duong Nguyen Ngoc Nga

Date:Oct 16,2023

Ms.Flora

ENG3U

To Kill a Mockingbird Theme Argumentative Essay

Innocence is very fragile thing in every child. It can easily disappear in a moment if

affected by something in life. In Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" about her journey harsh

story about Finch children like Scout and Jem living in Maycomb who want to find out the

mysteries of the adult world. This theme creates the image of losing innocence and purity when

the little character Scout has to struggle with an extremely complicated reality because of

surrounding stories such as unfair laws and racism. Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird"

is a set in a southern state of the United States-Alabama, where there are strong prejudices and a

society about racism and shows how bad a society can be when seeing contempt.The children in

the novel have to face the harsh reality outside when they have to learn about prejudices and

witness the struggles of fighting against injustice and discrimination race. The theme i explore is

that in children's lives, having to witness the strict rules and the shadow of racism surrounding

them has lost their innocence at an innocent age. In"To Kill a Mockingbird" conveys the theme

of loss of innocence through the image of Finch children , Scout and Jem having to face

injustice, prejudice as well as racism. The author created for readers about a message of life

impact on the lives of young children to highlight changes in prejudices and moral development.

The loss of innocence of the two children Scout and Finch in"To Kill a Mockingbird" is

reflected in their childhood of having to witness the evils of racism and social problems deeply
ingrained in their thinking innocence gradually disappear. The initial innocence of Scout and Jem

in the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird. "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got

his arm badly broken at the elbow" (Lee 3). The phrase "nearly thirteen" shows that Jem from an

innocent age is in the process of transitioning to a more mature age, simulating the process of the

boy growing up and his innocence gradually disappearing. In the novel, author Harper Lee

wanted to emphasize the innocent nature and thoughts of child characters in the first chapter of

the story. It is because of the event in this quote that it lays the foundation for the story in the

end, they will accidentally lose their innocence without even knowing it. In addition, the author

has engraved this detail to the reader when their youth has not yet begun to come into contact

with cumbersome issues and their innocence remains deep within their little souls. The author

conveyed in the most honest way to illustrate Scout's loss of innocence by showing Scout's

experience at school about racism, which her teacher is Caroline, felt uncomfortable when Scout

can read words."she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste"

(Lee 19). The quote above shows the image that teacher Caroline is extremely negative when she

learns about little Scout's reading ability. She was quite confused when her teacher had such an

attitude, while knowing knowledge as well as know how to read is quite a good thing in bringing

knowledge to her. But Ms.Caroline expressed so she was not satisfied with that, causing her to

questions herself about life having unfair things and the unkind treatment that humans and

humans treat each other. Because of this, it also contributed to her gradually losing her life take

away the innocence in her.

Scout's loss of purity due to her witnessing the entire story from Tom Robinson's trial. Jem were

exposed to social prejudices and the extreme injustice that society brought into their lives. "It
was Jem’s turn to cry. His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the

cheerful crowd" (Lee 243). In this quote, the author used figurative language is Irony for the

sentence "cheerful crowd" to reflect the cheerfulness that often exists in happy and excited

atmospheres but Jem's emotions are revealed in this quote the exact opposite. Using irony to

emphasize that the crowd may be happy but his emotions are not, he feels disappointed about the

outcome of the trial and it also highlights the excited mood of the crowd and the harsh reality

that Jem was facing at that timeshows Jem's overwhelming emotions after witnessing the trial

that caused him mental trauma. It also makes him realize the injustice and unfairness in the real

world. He traded his naivety to receive life lessons through different strict regulations. Scout was

also affected in significant way in terms of thinking after witnessing the events that took place at

Tom Robinson's trial. "In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the

white man always wins" (Lee 252). Realizing that this quotation contains figurative language is

metaphor because it suggests an image of court decisions favouring whites and discriminating

against blacks. And it is also a symbolic way of representing racism depicted in the novel. This

quote coming from Atticus also wants to strongly emphasize that his children have witnessed

harsh prejudice and that brings additional loss of innocence to his children when faced with such

complex problem. Harper Lee interwoven with vivid details about her initial innocence gradually

fades after she goes through the adult debates at the trial, and comes to realize the cruelties of

racism and injustice. Readers can also perceive it turns out that younger Scout has an awareness

of the unfair treatment of others evident in the world around her. Harper Lee used vivid images

to make it easier for readers to imagine the climactic context for the story. In this passage, the

author describes in extremely detailed the loss of innocence of the story. Scout and Jem about the
images of them experiencing the problems of racism, prejudice are extremely uncomfortable for

readers.

The thrilling events in the final chapters surrounding the character Boo Radley are a hook

for Scout and Jem loss of innocence. Scout knew the truth behind when Boo Radley saved her

and Jem from Bob Ewell. "His hands were under my chin, pulling up the cover, tucking it around

me." (Lee 323). As for Scout, she grew up fearing Boo Radley's stories, but she saw her true

nature clearly revealed through the events of To Kill a Mockingbird. And she also realized that

no one is always what they seem. Boo is like a terrifying obsession in the minds of children.But

he gradually entered the children's lives quietly with special care and his warm love for them to

little characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. He sent gifts hidden in the oak tree hole such as

chewing gum, two soap dolls and other gifts. He gave the best to Jem and Scout, is also a kind,

tolerant person. Boo has also gone from being a mysterious character to becoming Scout's

companion and making Scout have a more objective view of him. This is also a step forward to

show more clearly that the soul of little girl Scout has been shattered by the initial innocence that

the author gave her. Jem also had an experience not much different from his younger sister Scout

and received a valuable lesson in courage from Boo Radley, thereby also having more mature

thoughts. “Thank you for my children, Arthur-he said" (Lee 318), he slowly comes appreciate

Boo Radley's kindness and compassion, Atticus imparts lessons that influence Jem's journey into

adulthood about respect between relationships with each other. Do not compare with people of

different races, colors or ranks. Jem gradually realized that his thoughts were becoming more

mature and the shadow of innocence had also lest out of his innocence mind. The author's use of

figurative language to enable readers to imagine the different emotional and thinking
transformations of the characters as they are surrounded by the fierce aspects of their own adult

stories.

In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, the journey of Scout and Jem marked by

the theme of loss of innocence. Scout and Jem are influenced by the prejudices of adults and they

also continually convey to children how they think about society outside. Especially looking at

the harsh reality of severe racism and injustice that society brings has deeply affected the soul

during this time personality formation. They witnessed the influence of adults in the big world

but unintentionally lost their innocence and they also realized that there were mature thoughts

appearing in their subconscious without even knowing it. The book that author Harper Lee wants

to send to everyone about the bad rumors and judgements that have created prejudices

intertwined into the story goes further and further without looking at it comprehensively aspects.

Little girl Scout taught me that justice must be done equally in all situations, wanting to be

tolerant, open and treated fairly by society. I also realized that this world evaluates appreciate the

small things that are meaningful, that people can be isolated but they can also bring their own

purpose to society. Additionally, when i look at the characters of Scout and Jem they demonstrate

the value of every person is courage and strength of reason.Children still have a certain

innocence and naivety of their own. But Scout and Jem have been negatively affected mentally

and emotionally by their living environment on many issues in life, making them they lost their

innocence precisely because that also emphasized and highlighted the theme chose