Lost and Found

Lost and Found
      “Ella, did you take the last cookie from the jar?” Mother said with an accusing tone.
“No Mommy, I promise.” Ella is 6, and she is telling the truth. Ten years later...
“Ella, did you take the last cookie from the jar?”
“No, Mom.”
“Do not lie to me young lady. I do not need your sass.” Ella is 16 and she is still telling the truth. What, other than time, separates these two instances? Innocence. When Ella was 6, she was Mommy’s little angel. She did what she was asked, used her manners, and did not use bad language. When Ella was 16, that image of an angel was erased from her mother’s mind. In her place stood a crabby, back-sassing teenager that no parent would want to deal with.
      In this essay, I will describe how two characters, Scout and Jem, loose their innocence. I will start with my favorite character from To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout Finch. Scout had many reasons why she lost her innocence, but I am zeroing in on one in particular.
      Scout says in Chapter Nine: “I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year.”   One of my favorite things about Scout Finch is that she doesn’t beat around the bush.   She tells you what she thinks, and when she wants to say it. This statement is a fine example of that, but in more than one way. It shows her perspective on how she has changed. Now let’s not get confused here. I don’t think she exactly “made herself change;” there were definitely some contributing factors, such as Aunt Alexandra moving in. Her high quality ways and pish posh attitude gave Scout a run for her money. Aunt Alexandra practically pushed the lady-like manners on Scout, but most of the time, Scout pushed right back. However, it did leave an impression on Scout that gave her the idea of how she should act, not how she wanted to. She was getting a glimpse of what her future of being a woman would be like, and I think it made her scared. The idea of wearing overalls all the time just wouldn’t do: people...