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Abby Buckley
Davenport
Honors English 9
25 October 2015
To Kill a Mockingbird Lessons Learned
Societal norms and cultural backgrounds form peoples identity. In the novel To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character Scout has many experiences that support this
idea. In her hometown Maycomb, she comes across several characters that she has a predetermined image of. Scout learns that everyone is not defined by what their appearance shows
or what the common opinion is on them.
As Scout is growing up and learning these lessons, she is still chasing the ghost-like Boo
Radley. Scout spends years trying to catch just a glimpse of Boo and lure him out of his house.
The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity, the mere description of whom was
inside was enough to make us behave for days on end (7). This quote represents Scouts image
of Boo Radley in the beginning of the novel. The rumors of what lived in the Radley home gave
Scout a horrific idea in her head of what could be living there. As the novel moves on, Scout
becomes more mature and more aware of what is going on around her. Scout begins to realize the
stereotypes and racism occurring in her hometown. At the end of the novel, Boo saves Jem and
Scout from Bob Ewell, and in the moment she walks boo to his home, she stands in his shoes and
realizes his true character. To her, Boo has just proven all of the rumors about him wrong,
Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes
and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough (352). Scout finally
sees that every single assumption the town had of Boo Radley was wrong. She learns the lesson

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Abby Buckley
Davenport
Honors English 9
25 October 2015
that majority of the time the identities that society makes for people are not accurate. This is
merely one of the experiences that taught Scout not to judge people by rumors.
The Tom Robinson trial highly affected Scouts childhood and her perspective on racism.
As she was a young child when the trial first started, she did not understand yet why cultural
backgrounds would effect someones identity. Atticus, whats a nigger lover? (107). Scout does
not understand why defending Tom is frowned upon just because of his race, so she just assumes
that it is a bad thing what he is doing. As the verdict is reached, Scout has a gut feeling that
something is going to go wrong, she says The feeling grew until the atmosphere in the
courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were
still(257). This quote shows that Scout wants Tom to be convicted not guilty by the bad
feeling meaning that its an unpleasent thing that he is going to be guilty. She is maturing to
understand that what is happening is not right and that even though it was common to predict and
hope that he would be guilty, she is going against common opinion, which also shows her
growing up. This is another example of how Scout realizes that even society has an opinion on
someone, you should not treat them badly for the way other people see them.
A grouchy old lady named Mrs. Dubose added on to teaching Scout this valuable lesson
of not judging someone before you really know them. Jem and Scout Finch have much hatred for
Mrs. Dubose, Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked
by her wrathful gaze, subjected to her ruthless interrogations regarding our behavior and given a

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Abby Buckley
Davenport
Honors English 9
25 October 2015
melancholy prediction on what we would amount to when we grew up, which was always
nothing(99). This quote explains why Scout and Jem hates Mrs. Dubose but what it does not
explain is why she is the grouchy way she is. Atticus later explains to the children after she dies
why she was always crabby. It is explained that Mrs. Dubose had a morphine addiction and she
was always fighting the relapse, so she was always rude. Atticus describes her very nicely and
opens up the kids eyes to who she really was. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs.
Dubose won, all 98 pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and
nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew (227). Atticus explains how she did not die a
morphine addict and that makes her accomplished in her own eyes. It is hard for Scout to see her
as hated any longer because she was never in her shoes. This experience is also another reason
why Scout now understand not to judge people before you know what is really going on in their
lives.
Scout Finchs experiences help convey the idea of not judging a person by their culture or
rumors of who other people say they are, to the readers. She grew up and matured to realize that
no one should be judged for their cultural backgrounds just as all people should realize in real
life as they get older. Scout Finch got to learn all of these lessons in 3 years and it is hoped in life
that all readers of To Kill a Mockingbird are able to learn these lessons through the span of the
book as well.

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Abby Buckley
Davenport
Honors English 9
25 October 2015
Citation
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1960. Print