When did you first realize you were going to grow up? For some of us, we can remember a specific moment when we learned this truth, while others simply had a feeling. In any case, every child sooner or later knows that he has to grow up. Growing up is an experience everyone can relate to. Every adult remembers the joys and sorrows of being a child as well as the difficulties of coming of age. Since everyone can relate to this, many authors use "coming of age" as a main theme in their books. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is a classic example. Indeed, Harper Lee's use of the arrival theme is a large part of what makes To Kill a Mockingbird the classic that it is. All in one book, Lee has skillfully captured the nature of a child, the abandonment of childish ways and the destruction of his innocence as he grows up. To come of age, you must first be a child. This may seem like an obvious statement, but to portray someone as they grow up, they must first be presented as a child. Harper Lee understood this. At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, Jem, and Dill are children. They think like children, they act like children, they talk like children. Lee clearly understood how children behave and incorporated that knowledge into his writings. Lee, for example, knew that children have amazing imaginations. Scout describes their first summer with Dill: "Routine satisfaction was: improving our treehouse that rested between giant twin Chinaberry trees in the back yard, fidgeting and running through our roster of plays based on Oliver's works Optic, Victor Appleton and Edgar Rice Burroughs (p. 8).” Scout, Jem and Dill all had fabulous imaginations and used them regularly in acting. Dill in particular was... at the center of the card... Dill's innocence was tested and will eventually be overcome when he reaches Harper Lee's skill in portraying Scout, Jem, and Dill as children, then illustrating how they begin to come of age and showing the horrible loss of their innocence, played a huge role in making To Kill a Mockingbird the story. classic that it is. By using the coming of age theme, Lee was able to create characters that readers would fall in love with and relate to. Everyone grows up and everyone remembers what coming of age was like be positive, a person's childhood is a precious time. It is then that the imagination runs free; it is then that people are free from worries. It is there that an image can be found for believers in trust and faith. innocence of a child. Believers should strive to be like little ones, trusting and depending on God for everything they need.