5/1/2007
To kill A Mockingbird
A hero is a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. At the beginning of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird Jean Louise (Scout) Finch demonstrated little or none of the qualities attributed to be a hero. Although, by the end of the novel Scout Finch had gone through so much change she can be depicted as the sole hero of the novel. Scout Finch was a naive child at the beginning of the novel, but by the end the prejudice that seemed to run the way she viewed others had dissipated. Scout Finch may have been small in stature but she surely was not one to run from confrontation. Scout Finch showed determination to understand the vague issues of what was going on in her town even if it was beyond her years and even after being stereotyped by many. A hero is what Jean Louise Finch is and if others can not see that they are sadly mistaken, for heroism does not come often, and when it is gone that is when you need it the most. From an inexperienced boisterous child to a well mannered competent young lady Jean Louise Finch had become by the end of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
An immature little girl following the actions and beliefs of others, but when faced with the raw truth she learns how to perform and think for herself. When the novel starts off Scout Finch is not yet six years old, and that just may be the only time in her life in which she will feel uncertainty to the actions and views of her peers and her seniors. When it came to thinking for herself Scout Finch had quite a bit of trouble, this is because at her young age she was not to acquainted to right and wrong, and she would never be able to overcome this problem when the person she should be able to look up to can not contemplate their own thoughts, “According to Miss Stephanie…Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.” (pg.11). If Scout did not have such a great father to elaborate on how everyone is entitled to their own opinions and that they are neither right nor wrong, but it depends on how you take those opinions to how you live your life. Going from a naïve little child to a mature girl which can now look at things from another persons point of view. Scout Finch has grown by the end of the novel to see that the depicted “mad man” of the town is nothing that of what he is described, but a gentleman which had been looking out for her those few summers, “Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter and a man walked into the street dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him.” (pg.279). By the end of the novel Scout Finch had stood in Boo’s shoes and walked around in them. She was no longer prejudiced and was able to come up with her own opinions. A person does not knowingly become a hero; they are deemed one because of their acts of bravery and courage. Scout Finch as small as she may be is not one to run from confrontation.
