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 coming of age and learning to understand life. During the 1930s, the Great Depression had begun and southerners did not accept African Americans as equals. In the novel, Harper Lee shows how Scout becomes a knowledgeable, responsible, and understanding young woman in a segregated society. Scout begins the novel as an ignorant 5-year-old child. She is unaware of the severity of segregation in Maycomb. Her ignorance acts as a shield protecting her from the prejudices that reign there. The curious young Scout asks what the different terms are, like mixed children. Without the exposure to this sort of thing in the South, it shows how sheltered Atticus has kept his children and how unappreciated Scout is. Midway through the novel, when Aunt Alexandra tells Scout that the Cunninghams are trashy, yappy, and not their type of people, Scout's eyes open when she realizes how separated the people are because of their lifestyle. . His ignorance and his father prevent him from understanding why people treat others with such prejudice. Atticus told Scout, "Most of these old family stories are nonsense because everyone's family is as old as everyone else's" (303), reminding her that all humans are equal, few no matter where their family takes them. Scout also corrects Jem when he tells her that there are four types of people in the world. She implies that everyone is equal by saying that there is only one type of person. Because his ignorance has begun to disappear, Scout is able to see the inequality in which superior people treat inferior people with... middle of paper ... he understands Atticus's knowledge when she stands on Boo Radley's porch, realizing how much she had truly learned from him by putting herself in Boo's shoes and walking with them. It was enough for her to reflect on her life of irresponsibility, ignorance and false beliefs and realize what a young woman she had become. Scout's maturity is comparable to America's maturation during the period in which Harper Lee wrote the book. Due to America's irresponsibility, the stock market crashed, causing the Great Depression to begin in 1929. This experience taught America very valuable lessons and provided knowledge. , just as Scout learns from her mistakes. After World War II, America proved itself through the power of its knowledge. With victory, America is considered a superpower, just as Scout reached his peak growing up..