In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows the maturation of a young girl in a segregated society. Set in Maycomb, Alabama, a small town with a pleasant exterior but a prejudiced interior, this story is about Scout Finch, a young girl who comes of age and learns to understand life. During the 1930s the Great Depression had begun and Southerners had not accepted African Americans as equals. In the novel, Harper Lee shows how Scout matures into a knowledgeable, responsible, and understanding young woman in a segregated society. Scout begins the novel as an ignorant 5-year-old girl. He is unaware of the severity of segregation in Maycomb. Her ignorance acts as a shield that protects her from prejudice. The young and curious Scout asks what the different terms are, like mixed children. Without exposure to this kind of thing in the South you see how sheltered Atticus has been to his children and how inexperienced Scout is. Halfway through the novel, when Aunt Alexandra tells Scout that the Cunninghams are scruffy, talkative, and not their kind of people, Scout's eyes open as she realizes how separated people are because of their way of life . Her ignorance and her father prevent her from understanding why people treat others with such prejudices. Atticus told Scout, "Most of this stuff about the Old Family is nonsense because everyone's family is just as old as everyone else's" (303), reminding her that all humans are the same no matter where they come from. traces their family back. Scout also corrects Jem when he tells her that there are four kinds of people in the world. It implies that everyone is equal by saying that there is only one kind of people. As her ignorance has begun to fade, Scout is able to see the inequality with which superior people treat inferior people with... middle of paper... she understands Atticus' knowledge when she stands on Boo Radley's porch, realizing how much she had truly learned from him as she put herself in Boo's shoes and hung out with them. Doing this was enough for her to reflect on her life of irresponsibility, ignorance and false beliefs and realize how much of a young woman she had become. Scout's coming of age is comparable to the maturation of America during the time period in which Harper Lee set the book. Due to America's irresponsibility, the stock market crashed causing the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. This experience teaches America very valuable lessons and brings knowledge. , just as Scout learns from her mistakes. After World War II, America proved itself strong with the power of knowledge. With the victory, America is seen as a superpower, just as Scout has reached his peak in growth.