What happens to Scout throughout Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

As the plot of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird progresses, Scout significantly matures. At the beginning of the story, she is a young tomboy prone to act out in violence and who has her fair share of prejudices. By the end of the story, she is calmer, has learned to accept and appreciate her role as a lady, and has even let go of many of her prejudices. Many chapters toward the end of the novel reveal many details about her growth and development. Two of the best moments that mark her growth and development occur in the final chapter.

Scout and Jem have just been rescued by Arthur "Boo" Radley, who then asks Scout to walk him home. Scout's thoughts and response to his request help mark her maturity. She thinks to herself, "I would lead him through our house, but I would never lead him home" (Chapter 31). She then asks him to bend his arm so she can slip her own hand through his, as a lady would do when being escorted by a gentleman. Scout does this to protect him from any prying eyes, such as those of Miss Stephanie Crawford's, and to protect him from any unfair judgements someone like Miss Crawford might make. Scout's choice to protect Arthur shows us how much compassion and understanding she has developed as the novel has progressed. She now sees Arthur for the person he truly is, a kind, giving, and caring person, and she refuses to let anyone continue to judge him as being otherwise.

Another moment that marks Scout's growth and development is when, after having escorted Arthur home, she stands on his front porch in front of his window and views the neighborhood as he would see it. As she does so, she reflects on all the experiences she and Jem have had over the course of the last three years that Arthur would have witnessed from his window. As she does so, she thinks of Jem and herself as "his children," which shows she has come to understand how much Arthur cares for her and Jem. Most importantly, as she stands on Arthur's porch, she reflects on a lesson Atticus taught her that is a central theme of the novel.

Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough (Chapter 31).

By standing on Arthur's porch and seeing the world as he would have seen it, Scout metaphorically stands in Arthur's shoes, meaning she sees the world from his perspective. Her ability to understand his perspective and see Arthur as a kind, caring person, not the scary monster she used to see him as, marks just how much she has matured by letting go of her prejudices as the book has progressed.