Scout realizes that she had learned to read quite naturally. It is something she had picked up without consciously being aware of it and/or the significance of it. Since it came so naturally, she never thought of "losing it." If one assumes something will always be there, it is easy to take that thing for granted. But when it becomes possible that we can lose something, we start to appreciate it. Scout adds that "One...
Scout realizes that she had learned to read quite naturally. It is something she had picked up without consciously being aware of it and/or the significance of it. Since it came so naturally, she never thought of "losing it." If one assumes something will always be there, it is easy to take that thing for granted. But when it becomes possible that we can lose something, we start to appreciate it. Scout adds that "One does not love breathing." In other words, I don't love breathing because I breathe without even thinking about it. I take it for granted. The larger implication of this is that I should love breathing; I should appreciate each breath and should appreciate being alive.
This is the lesson behind this quote. We should appreciate life. And when it comes to reading, we should appreciate the knowledge and insights that reading affords us. There are other things that Scout learns to appreciate. She has always had a principled father. She will have more opportunities in life than, say, Tom Robinson's children or Walter Cunningham Jr. These are just a few things that Scout might take for granted and this is to be expected at such a young age. But since this novel is about her maturation, her learning process is about becoming aware of these things.
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