Minor Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird

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We are born with a pure and innocent heart. A heart free of lying, deceit, and cheating. As children, we don’t realise how important our innocence is to the world. We try to grow up as fast as we can without ever looking back. But, as we get older our heart starts to cripple and fall apart from our occasional immoral actions or misjudgements. Eventually, we crave the pre-existing way of life of innocence. Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, highlights this ideology as numerous characters find themselves striving for innocence whether it be for internal satisfaction or the accedence of others. Through analysis of Harper Lee’s novel, the theme is exposed at the hand of the minor characters: the innocence of the heart is highly sought after …show more content…
Mrs. Dubose reclaims some of her innocence by stopping her morphine addiction before she died, while Mayella Ewell preserved her juvenile act for the cost of an honest man’s life. More importantly, Atticus and Heck Tate sustain a hermit's innocence by lying to the public. It is stated numerous times, by numerous children today that they want to grow up and become an adult in order to be taken seriously. We see this happen to one of the novel’s major characters, Jem, as he starts to turn twelve. He starts to identify himself as a grown up and spend less time with his little sister. Jem wants to rid himself of being naive, juvenile, and innocent but, little does he realise, that these traits are what the rest of the adults in his town are craving or trying to preserve. Despite common knowledge, the pure and innocent heart of your childhood days is not gone forever. You can still view the world as a child, live freely without repent, and make good out of all situations. Just like how a mockingbird can never be truly killed, a heart never truly grows

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