English I (H), Period 1-Penelope 2 March 2012 Her innocence and childishness clouding her judgment and perspective, Scout makes many biased opinions about people, such as Boo Radley. In Lee Harper’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, a young girl holds preconceived judgments about Boo Radley, a recluse whom the community shuns. She and her brother Jem fabricate many stories depicting the reasons why he stays shut in the house and others consider him a delinquent. As she grows older, she transitions to adulthood, gaining maturity and insight. She gradually starts to realize how her biased presumptions of Boo Radley reveal that the community greatly influenced her thoughts. This causes her to rethink her judgments about him, showing her increase in her level of maturity as she takes responsibility for her thoughts and opinions. House on Mango Streets’ Esperanza emulates a similar transition into adulthood. She lives in world sheltered from everything and everyone else, having an egocentric stance toward the rest of the world. As a child, she has a hard time in taking control of her sexuality, where as other children accept it quite easily. She takes part in childish and trivial activities and has a hard time grasping the real world. However, gradually through experience and exposure to the real world and by gaining more responsibilities, she develops a want for a relationship with a man and understands reality. Sandra Cisneros House on Mango Street illustrates Esperanza’s transformation from an innocent and childish young girl into a mature and independent woman through exposure to the real world. In the beginning of the novel, Esperanza, still going through the childhood stage, displays qualities of innocence and childishness. Esperanza struggles to overcome her childish perception of everyone being asexual. She believes that “The boys and girls lived in