Examine the Themes of Innocence and Experience in To Kill a Mockingbird

Examine the Themes of Innocence and Experience in To Kill a MockingbirdInnocence is a time when a person has never done something it is thefirst step of the journey from innocence to sustain. The secondstep in this movement is experience and this is what is achieved aftera person has done something they have never done before or learnssomething they have never kn confess before. This bow of growth frominnocence to experience occurs many times in To Kill a Mockingbird andis one of the central themes in the first part of the novel, becauseit shows how Jem and templet change and mature over a small period oftime. Jem, Scout and Dill find ways to use their boundaries, inconjunction with their imaginations to amuse themselves by creatinggames based on adult behaviour. As the children move through thenovel, they use these games to develop from their innocence toexperience by defining the realities of their games through the livesof the adults. Through their own games and through the gam es of theadults, the children learn values of respect, courage, andunderstanding.The story is told by Scout, a mature narrator looking back on herselfas a child. Scouts naivety and childish view of the world ishighlighted by the reader, often understanding events better thanScout herself. The first example of Scout moving from innocence to experience is inChapter 2, when Scout unwillingly begins school. Her fellow pupil,Walter Cunningham, refuses to borrow some money from Miss Caroline tobuy lunch, however Miss Caroline will not accept this refusal. Scoutenters the conversation and tries to explain this matter but isconsequently punished. She then retaliates, resulting in a fight withWaler which ... ...ever, the main example of innocence in the novel is also in Chapter10, when the children are given air rifles for Christmas. Atticussays Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit em, butremember its a sin to kill a mockingbird. The mockingbird representsinnocence. Like hunters who kill mockingbirds for sport, people killinnocence, or other people who are innocent, without thinking just aboutwhat they are doing. Atticus stands firm in his defense of innocenceand urges his children not to shoot mockingbirds both literally andfiguratively. This is also in the title of To Kill a Mockingbird andit has very little literal connection to the plot, but it carries agreat deal of symbolic weight. In this story of innocence destroyed byevil, the mockingbird comes to represent the idea of innocence.Thus, to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence.