In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is a young girl that comes of age in a society in which racism and prejudice are apparent. In the story, Scout must learn to cope with and make sense of the world in which she lives. While she faces many conflicts, her main conflict lies in her struggle to find balance with what she sees and hears in her society and what she believes to be true. As an example, Scout hears stories about Boo Radley and how he is a "malevolent phantom." However, throughout the story, Scout comes to the conclusion that Boo is actually a caring and misunderstood man that simply prefers to be alone. Another example involves the trial of Tom Robinson. Scout's young mind must make sense of why people judge a person based on skin color and how people's actions are often not consistent with their words.
The resolution of Scout's main conflict comes when she learns to understand and apply the words her father shares with her in the beginning of the story. Atticus explains 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." Scout shows growth and maturity at the end of the story. Through tough lessons and support from her family, Scout shows she is capable of understanding others' perspectives.
One could argue that Scout's main conflict involves her constantly defending her father when various people insult Atticus for representing Tom Robinson. Scout gets into several physical confrontations when different children criticize Atticus for defending a black man, which causes her stress and gets her into trouble. However, Atticus is patient with his daughter and encourages her to fight with her head instead of her fists.
Scout's other main conflict concerns her lack of understanding and naive point of view. Throughout the majority of the novel, Scout struggles to fully understand her prejudiced community and does realize the hypocrisy of her neighbors. As the story progresses, Atticus teaches his daughter important life lessons and she begins to mature. Scout ends up losing her childhood innocence when she witnesses racial injustice firsthand and begins to fully grasp the racist nature of her community. Following the Tom Robinson trial, Scout understands the dangers of racism and easily identifies hypocrites in her community. By the end of the novel, Scout develops into a tolerant, morally-upright young girl with an expanded perspective on life.
Scout deals with several conflicts throughout the book. A few are highlighted below:
Scout has an ongoing conflict with her brother, Jem. Jem sometimes tries to make Scout feel excluded. An example of this is when he tells her she is acting like a girl:
Jem was scowling triumphantly. "Nothin' to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it's mortifyin'" (To Kill a Mockingbird, chapter 4).
Conflicts between Calpurnia and Scout are also common in the novel. On the first day of school, Scout gets in trouble with her teacher because she is already writing. Scout blames Calpurnia for giving her "a writing task by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a chapter of the Bible beneath" (Chapter 3). Calpurnia is often strict with Scout, which she does not like. Calpurnia scolds Scout when she is rude or unkind.
Scout is willing to challenge anyone who criticizes her father about the Tom Robinson trial. Her cousin, Francis, insults Atticus. He tells her that Atticus is a disgrace to the Finch family. Scout is enraged and goes after him.
The main conflict is Scout dealing with those who insult her father. Francis and children at school speak negatively about Atticus. At first, Scout only responds with anger. The resolution is when she learns to be confident in her father's work to help Tom Robinson. She knows that he is doing the right thing, no matter what anyone says about it.
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