Scout is a tomboy at heart, and works hard not to "act like a girl" by wearing overalls instead of dresses and beating up other children who antagonize her. When someone calls her a girl, she takes this as an insult and gets mad afterward. Despite of being a lady, Scout is also a fighter by temperament. She picks fights at the slightest provocation. One example of this is when Scout beats up Walter Cunningham, one of her classmates, for not having his lunch, which is not a very good reason at all. However, this behavior changes as the story goes, she learns to control her explosive temper, and to refrain from fistfights. One example of this is when Cecil Jacobs, another of Scout’s classmates, insults Atticus by saying that Atticus defended Niggers. “[She] remember[s] what Atticus ha[s] said, then drop[s] [her] fists and walk[s] away.”(81) In the book, Atticus is the person who influences Scout the most. It is Atticus’s guidance and protection that render Scout’s personality.
Scout manages to secure her own thoughts and not conform to the prejudice society. Her innocent mind remains indiscriminative and caring of others. This is mentioned in the story when Jem states that “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like [them], there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.” (226) However, Scout disagrees with that, she states that “[she] think[s] there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.” (227) To her, all is equal, so therefore, should be treated equal. She forms a code of conduct very similar to Atticus, a code of understanding and acceptance of all human beings. Despite the rules of etiquette governing life in her small town, Scout voices her opinions and recognizes hypocrisy and injustice in her elders. In addition, from the guidance and help Scout has received from her father, Atticus, her perspective on life develops from that of an innocent child into that of a near grown-up.
Scout changes, matures as the story progresses and gains an optimistic view towards life. When contacting the evils of the world in the form of racial prejudice, she emerges from that with her conscience and optimism intact. This all thanks to Atticus’s wisdom, he shows Scout that a true person is standing up for what you believe in, and all human beings, despite their race, deserve respect. Therefore whatever evil Scout encounters, she will retain her conscience without becoming pessimistic or jaded. From this, she learns that though humanity, a great capacity for both evil and good exist, and with an outlook of sympathy and understanding that one approaches others, the evil can often be alleviated. Scout also learns valuable lessons on the way of judging others from Atticus that “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.” (30) As a result, Scout develops a more grown-up perspective, an optimistic view of life that enables her to appreciate human goodness without ignoring human evil.
The lessons Scout learns from her father set her mind on a non-prejudice path. She progresses from a childish tomboy to a mature young girl without losing her innocence, and begins to look at life in an optimistic way. At the end of the story, Scout recognizes that “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.”(279) She was not just standing on the Radley porch, looking things in Boo’s point of view, but also from her own, looking back on events that happened years earlier with a greater maturity and understanding. With the consciousness and beliefs she holds, she will never be destroyed like a mockingbird no matter what evils she confronts in her future life.
