FREE ESSAY ON TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD

TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD

In Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill A Mocking Bird" you see that maturation of some of the
characters is clearly evident, particularly Scouts. You see this by the way she acts in
front of Miss Maudie, Calpurnia and Mrs. Alexandra Finch. 
Beside her father, Scout respects and likes most Miss Maudie. They have a great
relationship and they both love each other very deeply. When Scout first introduce us to
Miss Maudie (in chapter 5), she tells us all the nicest things about her. She talks about
how much she and Jem trusted Miss Maudie and what a good friend she was. They trusted her
because she never told on them, never played cat-and-mouse with them, and because she was
not at all interested in their private lives, (pg. 44-45) unlike most Maycomb people.
This is also why Scout respected Miss Maudie so much and why she told her, Miss Maudie,
you are the best lady I know (page 45) . Miss Maudie always made cakes for Scout, Jem and
Dill, and she invited them over to eat them and also to play in her backyard. One summer,
Scout spent the whole second half of the summer with Miss Maudie. They sat in the front
porch, watched the sunset, talked, and took care of Miss Maudie's garden. That is when
Scout became very close to Miss Maudie. Scout admired Miss Maudie. Miss Maudie was her
hero. 
Calpurnia is a very important character in the novel. Scout has known Calpurnia her whole
life and basically lived with her, but they weren't very close. Scout never liked
Calpurnia very much, mostly because she always complained about her behavior. 
She was always ordering her out of the kitchen, asking her why she couldn't behave as
well as Jem when she knew he was older, and calling her home when she wasn't ready to
come. There talking was like battling and one-sided. Calpurina always won, mainly because
Atticus always took her side.
Another reason why Scout did not like Calpurnia is because she made her practice writing.
Then, when Scout's teacher in grade one found out that Scout can read, she got in trouble
and blamed Calpurnia. At that time, she was too young to understand that Calpurnia only
tried to help her and teach her so she would be literate and know more useful things.
Even though this seems like a negative relationship and seems as if though it can never
get better, the relationship between Scout and Calpurnia changes through the novel. 
As Scout grows and becomes more mature, she realizes that Calpurnia is nice and she
always means good. On page 29, Scout tells us about her and Cal's conversation one day
when Scout came back from school. Calpurnia said that she had missed Scout that day while
she and Jem were at school. All of a sudden, Calpurnia was really nice to Scout. She let
Scout watch her fix supper, she made crackling bread for her, and she even kissed her.
Scout describes how she feels after all this behavior: I ran along, wondering what had
come over her. She had wanted to make up with me, that was it. She had always been too
hard on me, she had at last seen the error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too
stubborn to say so. (page 29). This proves that Scout always thought that Calpurnia never
liked her and did not care about her, and that she deserves Cal's apology. Scout is
deeply hurt when Calpurnia tells her that picking on Walter Cunningham while he eats at
their place is rude and that Scout should stop that and never do it again. Here, Scout
thinks that Calpurnia is being mean to her again, but when she grows up a little, she
will be thankful to Calpurnia because she taught her about being polite and respectful to
her guests. 
There is, however, because of this, a positive side to this relationship. Scout does
respect Calpurnia, partly because she has to - she is her nanny and she takes care of
her, and partly because she simply likes some of Cal's characteristics. Scout likes
Calpurnia because she has more education than most colored folks (page 24) and to Scout
and the whole Finch family education is very important. She also likes her because Cal is
not a racist and she is very protective of her and Jem. That is why Scout feels safe
around Calpurnia. 
Even though Mrs. Alexandra Finch is Atticus's sister and Scout's Aunt, Scout doesn't like
her at all. This is because Aunt Alexandra disapproves of Scout's behavior - she doesn't
like Scout acting like a tomboy, and the thing that Scout hates more than anything is
behaving like a girl. She has always worn pants, played boys' games, fought, and when
someone calls her a girl, she takes this as an insult and gets mad afterward. However,
Aunt Alexandra's impression is that every boy should act like a male, and that every girl
should act like a female. No girls are aloud to wear pants and play with boys' toys,
according to Aunt Alexandra. When Aunt Alexandra comes to Maycomb for a visit, Scout
feels as if she has been struck by lightning. Alexandra's reason for coming to Maycomb is
getting some feminine influence on Scout and teaching her how to be a girl. Scout knows
that she won't be able to have all the freedom and fun that she's had up until now and
this is why she feels so depressed when she sees her aunt sitting in the front porch. She
also knows that Aunt Alexandra may have some bad influence on Scout's and Atticus's
relationship because Atticus has a lot of respect for his sister and he never confronted
her about anything. Scout is afraid because Atticus always takes his sister's side, it
could effect the relationship Scout has with her father and that and this could tear them
apart. 
Throughout the novel, Atticus repeats to Scout an Jem the importance of seeing things
from another point of view in order to understand what the other person is feeling. The
theme of childhood is also another important one. The story takes place over a period of
years, and the reader takes part in the adventure of the child growing up in a small
Southern town. To Kill A Mocking Bird is a fascinating story about a young girl who sees
the town through her little innocent eyes, this novel is a must for everyone to read
because it displays racial tensions that are throughout out the town especially the
citizens.