WHAT DOES SCOUT MEAN WHEN SHE THOUHGT “AS I MADE MY WAY HOME I THOUGHT JEM AND I WOULD GET GROWN BUT THERE WASN’T MUCH ELSE LEFT FOR US TO LEARN, EXCEPT POSSIBLY ALGEBRA”?
3 Answers | Add Yours
Scout is reflecting on the great leap that she and her brother made over the course of the novel. They each learned quite a bit, matured and developed a moral strength they had never had before.
Early on, Scout realizes that school is not the place where all learning takes place. This final comment echoes this idea and suggests that "life lessons" have been learned in her experiences that could never have been learned in school.
Scout has had a busy and wildly memorable summer and early fall: She has witnessed Tom Robinson convicted of a crime of which he was innocent and then experienced Atticus's announcement of his death. She has taken steps toward being a lady; fallen in love with Dill; discovered the hypocrisy of devout, Christian ladies and teachers; and nearly been killed by Bob Ewell. Most importantly, her fantasy of meeting Boo Radley has come true, with Boo emerging as her hero and protector. In Scout's mind, there is little else to compare with her recent life experiences, and little else to learn--except maybe algebra.
Scout had learned a lot that summer, and matured because of the events that her family had been through. She learned that the town of Maycomb isn't how Jem and herself had once thought it to be, and that people can be mean(racism), and often hypocritical (Christian ladies, her teacher). She also had finally met Boo Radley and finally understood the meaning of "walking around in somebody elses skin." The quote means that because of all of the things that had occured the past summer, there was little else for her to learn because she had already matured into a young woman - although she was only 9 years old.
We’ve answered 324,533 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question