Tristan 1

Tristan Kassel
Mrs. Davenport
English 9 Honors
27 October 2015
How People Change Through Their Environment
To Kill a Mockingbird was a historical non-fiction book by Nelle Harper Lee. It takes place
during the 1930s in Alabama. The book follows Scout, who has to deal with racism, death, her
brother, and a neighbor that everybody is scared of. Scout goes through a lot in the novel, and
shes a different person by the end. Scouts experiences in the book change her, convey a
message about how peoples experiences and society can change them, and another theme of not
actually knowing somebody until you meet them.
There are many significant moments in the book that change Scout for better or worse. To Kill
a Mockingbird takes place over a few years, and the change over time is very apparent. The book
is also narrated by Scout at 30 years old, so rather than living the events she is reflecting on
them. Something that changes Scouts summers is Dill, her friend whos also her crush. Harper
Lee says, With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable (154) to show how
distraught Scout is without Dill. Scout becomes more cynical following the Tom Robinson case
where racism and injustice essentially end a mans life. After Jem starts acting like and adult and
telling her what to do and being more protective, she follows suit and shows that she thinks of
herself as an adult. Around the time that Atticus was called a nigger-lover by a peer at school,
Scout asks more questions when she doesnt know what something means. What happens to
Scout and how she changes is also a theme for the book.
A universal theme from the book is that people take their identity from their surroundings.
They change based on things going on in their environment, and where their environment is.
Scout grew up in a tranquil Southern town. She grew up with her brother and mostly stayed near

Tristan 2
boys at school. She lived in a small town where there wasnt much to do, and everybody knew
each other. When setting the scene Harper Lee says Maycomb was an old town, but it was a
tired old town when I knew it (4). Because of that, when one person is affected by something, it
effects somebody else in town because they would all have a relationship with that person. For
instance, everybody went to the Tom Robinson trial because it would affect them whether they
did or didnt go. Theres another very important theme that has to do with opinions of people.
The other theme in the book is to know somebody before you judge them. The most important
scenario this is present in is with Boo Radley. The children had heard tales about Boo Radley
that from other kids and even adults in the town. Before even seeing Boo Radley, Scouts and
Jems heads were filled with images of Boo Radley. They thought of a human who was locked
up in the basement for stabbing his mom. But after Boo saves Jem and Scout, she realizes that
they were wrong about him. This theme is wrapped up very nicely when Atticus says to Scout,
Most people are, Scout, when you finally meet them (Lee 376) because Scout had made a
comment about a character in a book being nice when it was thought he wasnt.
All in all, people change based on their environment and what happens in it. This is apparent
in To Kill a Mockingbird where Scout changes through her Environment. Another thing apparent
in the book is the theme of judging somebody before you know them, or by what you hear. How
does the readers environment change them?

Tristan 3
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. Print.