To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a journey through reality for Scout Finch and her brother Jem. The plot takes place in 1933 overlooking the case of a black man, Tom Robinson, who is fighting for justice after being wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Tom Robinson is being defended by Atticus Finch, the only lawyer that would stand up for the black man. He tried vigorously to defend Tom, but despite his diligent efforts the all white jury comes up with the verdict guilty. Throughout the experience with Mrs. Dubose and Arthur Radley, the main character, Scout, greatly matures, and she learns not to accept her illusions of reality until she finds reality itself.
Scout thinks that Mrs. Dubose is a mean, old and vicious woman who has nothing better to do than bicker at them when they walk by. Scout even goes to say “She [Mrs. Dubose] was horrible. Her face was the color of a dirty pillowcase, and corners of her mouth listened with wet, which inched like a glacier down the deep grooves enclosing her chin. Old-age liver spots dotted her cheeks, and her pale eyes had black pinpoint pupils. Her hands were knobby, and cuticles were grown up over her fingernails” (122). On the contrary, Mrs. Dubose is totally different; she is a dying woman who wants to get rid of her morphine addiction before she dies. Furthermore, through this experience, Scout learns to be tolerant against slander. Also, throughout the whole event, Scout’s maturity greatly increases as she learns what it means to be truly brave. Atticus even goes to say “she was the bravest person I ever knew” (128). In addition she also displays this courage when she stands in front of mob next to the jail which held Tom Robison. In the end, this lesson helps Scout in the duration of the Tom Robinson case.
Scout learns and matures greatly during her experiences with the Radley house. Arthur Radley more commonly known as “Boo Radley” to Scout is a scary ghostly person. Moreover he is described by the town as “malevolent phantom” and they even say “When people’s azaleas frozen in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them” (9). However, Boo Radley turns out to be a very kind and innocent person who was harmed by his cruel father Nathan Radley. Boo shows his kindness by covering Scout at the fire, sending her gifts in the pot hole and saving her and Jem from Bob Ewell. Her maturity increases as she shows her understanding that a person should not harm those who have only done good deeds. In others words, she knows Boo is a mockingbird and bringing him to trial would be similar to killing one. Finally, she realizes that she has prejudice inside of her, and she realizes that she should not judge people by color of skin or how wealthy the family is but by the person itself.
To sum it up, Scout, as an immature child, looks at everything through appearance and judges it in the same manner. Just how the jury in the Tom Robinson case, judges Tom by the color of his skin. However, once she looks into the illusions of hers, she finds reality and stays true to Atticus advice “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (33). Finally the lessons that Mrs. Dubose and Boo Radley taught Scout are valuable teachings of life which she will express and use throughout her whole life.
