Literature often questions the moral nature of human beings: are humans born on an innocent blank slate that is fundamentally good, but the tribulations of the world harden their hearts and minds, creating complex creatures of both good and evil, or whether humans are born purely evil and society helps mask evil with superficial decency. Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" addresses this question by skillfully dramatizing Scout and Jem's evolution from the light-hearted naivete of childhood to a more austere adult outlook. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is a complex exploration of human morality, skillfully stripping away the romantic façade of the sleepy South, presenting humanity's inherent combination of good and evil in its most raw, uncensored form. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout assume that people are truly good because they have never known evil. The childish innocence with which Scout and Jem begin the novel is immediately threatened by numerous incidents that reveal the evil side of human nature, including the guilty verdict in Tom Robinson's trial and the vengeful spirit of Bob Ewell. As the novel progresses, Scout and Jem struggle to maintain their faith in the human capacity for good in light of these recurring instances of human evil. To emphasize their transition from innocence to experience, Lee skillfully uses motifs such as hatred, discrimination, and ignorance to illustrate that innocent people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are unprepared for the evil that 'they encounter and, therefore, they are destroyed. The realization that there is true evil within their society shakes Jem and, in turn, he loses his faith in humanity and society as a whole. He once held a piece of paper in the middle......this is sympathetically the culmination of his development as a character throughout the novel and the moral vision of "To Kill a Mockingbird" as a whole . At the beginning of "To Kill a Mockingbird", Scout and Jem are innocent, good-hearted children who have no experience of the evils of the world. As the novel progresses, they have their first contact with evil in the form of racial prejudice, and the fundamental development of the character is governed by the question of whether they will emerge from this contact with their conscience and their optimism intact or whether they will be bruised. injured or destroyed like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Through Atticus' wisdom, Jem and Scout learn that while humanity has a great capacity for evil, it also has a great capacity for good, and that evil can often be mitigated if one approach others with an attitude of sympathy and understanding..