Undoubtedly, everybody loses their childhood innocence at some stage in their life, but we must not lose sight of the different factors influencing this change for each individual. Whether they are a place, a person or an event, they will influence you in some way and help shape the person you become. Scout, in Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is a prime example of how the setting of Maycomb, Alabama and the factors inside this 1930s southern town were used to reinforce the idea of loss of innocence. Inside the town, the school, the Finch household, and the courthouse all give insight into Scout’s life, and play a role in influencing and maturing Scout into the young woman she becomes by the end of the novel.

At the beginning of the novel, 6-year-old Scout was lost in a world of imagination, common for children at that age. She said whatever was on the tip of her tongue without thinking of the consequences. Take for example the moment where she stuck up for Walter Cunningham saying “Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham,” in hopes of saving him for the inevitable humiliation which would come his way. Scout’s clearly innocent mind had little concept of social ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’. The school setting develops her knowledge of this, therefore contributing to an early loss of innocence, a main idea throughout the novel. While this situation causes early loss of innocence, it also sets the foundation for her initial innocence, allowing the reader to view the full progression of her character over the course of the novel. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a coming of age novel, aligning with the loss of Scout’s childhood innocence, relating to her initial simplicity and lack of knowledge. The coming of age genre illustrates loss of innocence as the genre concentrates on the development of the protagonist from youth, to a young adult, which may be influenced by the settings around the character. “It’s best to begin reading with a fresh mind,” is a statement foreign to Scout. She doesn’t understand how having acquired the ability to read could be wrong and result in a negative impact. Not only does the reader sympathise with Scout and therefore understand the rest of the novel from her perspective as young girl challenged by gender stereotypes, but also introduces Scout to a mindset unknown to her; that of someone believing they are constantly correct. This too, contributes to loss of innocence, as it causes Scout to uncover more about the ‘adult world’. Scout grew up with no mother figure other than Calpurnia, the cook, and is influenced majorly by her father Atticus. Through this, she gains morals and values aligned with those in the household. Everyone has different morals and values, and here Scout becomes more aware of this. “Hold out your hand” was another saying never before heard by Scout, and she “thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand.” Powerfully, this shows the direct contrast between the young imaginative mind of a child and the harsh reality of the ‘adult world.’ Here, the school setting enlightens Scout on more aspects of the world, and furthers the loss of innocence, as it yet again presents to her that not everyones morals and values are the same as hers. The school setting can also be considered one which shows the gender prejudices of the 1930s. Women held less value than men, and family life and motherhood were their main role in society. Miss Caroline’s belief may be that being a girl, Scout should not yet have the ability to read, let alone before the majority of males in her class. “Then she went to the blackboard and printed the alphabet in enormous square capitals… most of the first grade had failed it last year,” demonstrates the oppression of Scout’s true self caused by gender expectations in society. This gender prejudice present in the school setting, and the setting of Maycomb as a whole, helped Scout to develop as a person and grow out of her childhood imagination and into a young lady by the end of the novel.

I find it surprising that the setting of the Finch household, of all places, impacts further on the loss of Scout’s childhood innocence through the gender prejudice present in the home. Her home life highlights the reality of prejudice against women that can lead to change and maturity an individual. Aunt Alexandra is a typical southern woman who holds strong prejudiced beliefs around gender. She moved into the Finch household during the trial, and holds firm ideas of making Scout more ‘feminine.’ On the premise that women hold less value to society, they were destined to be housewives, and young girls were supposed to play with “small stoves” and “tea sets.” Scout challenged these stereotypes by wearing breeches and playing what were considered ‘boy activities.’ By refusing to conform to social standards, it is clear she doesn’t understand the adult viewpoint. Scout matures from being able to “do nothing in a dress,” to understanding that sometimes it is necessary to do something you don’t like, reflected in the quote “if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, then so could I.” The gender prejudice shown in household setting is effective in showing that no matter how unprejudiced a person, a community or even a location appears to be, sexism can occur anywhere, and can influence change in an individual, causing them to become both more knowledgable and less innocent. On the other hand, Jem makes derogatory statements about women such as “you’re getting more like a girl every day!” These perspectives contradict each other and reflect that society will never be happy with women.

The courtroom setting may be the moment Scout truly loses her innocence. The courtroom exposes her to racial injustice, deepening her understanding of “remember, it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Through court proceedings, she discovers that innocent people, such as Tom Robinson, can lose everything at the hands of others. Her loss of innocence is connected to the realisation that racism is a key world issue. The Jim Crow laws made life difficult for the African Americans especially in the southern states such as Alabama. I believe Harper Lee chose the setting as the 1930s were such a divided time. This allows the reader to uncover the prejudice which was both prevalent in the book, and the real world 1930s, affecting everyone, Scout included. When “To Kill a Mockingbird” was officially published in the 1960s, it was during the civil rights movement, and events such as the Montgomery bus boycott, the Freedom Riders and the Little Rock Nine were taking place. In my opinion, this is Lee expressing her opinions, and as did Rosa Parks during the bus boycott, Lee is taking a stand. This is something I personally love about the novel, as it instigates new conversations, for example, how Maycomb shows Scout’s innocence decline. When discussing the impacts of the courtroom setting on the loss of Scout’s childhood innocence, the reader must also take into consideration the second scene at the school, in which Miss Gates is lecturing the students about equality and democracy during the persecution of the Jews by Hitler. This is one key moment in the text where we see how far Scout has progressed. Scout doesn’t understand how one could possibly say “that’s the difference between America and Germany. We are a democracy and Germany is a dictatorship… Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anybody. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced,” after coming out of the courthouse after Tom Robinson’s trial being “ugly about folks right at home.” This illustrates Scouts knowledge of real word problems, and although this is not yet a comprehensive understanding, it’s developing. In the 1930s, there were many social, prejudiced and horrific events occurring. The Great Depression had wreaked havoc on the global economy, Hitler’s persecution of the Jews was beginning and black segregation was extreme. Scout was a just a child at the beginning of the novel, and like most others, wouldn’t have a care in the world for these problems, and wouldn’t even understand the concept of them. As well as using the school setting to open the readers eyes to world events which Lee herself lived through, she is showing Scouts knowledge development of persecution and broader knowledge of racism and other key world problems of the time.

To conclude, I am almost certain that the setting of Maycomb, Alabama and the elements of the time were used to reinforce the idea of loss of innocence in Scout’s character. She uses the setting of Maycomb in the 1930s, a decade in which the world was very divided in gender, race and class. All these aspects are present in Maycomb, and allow the reader to understand Scouts growth as an individual towards losing her childs innocence.