What Is Scout's Perspective In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Many parents can recall a time that their young child blurted out an impolite observation about a stranger on the street. The child may not have understood that some people are different than others and not everyone looks or acts the same. This issue of a young child's perspective can also be seen in Harper Lee’s character, Scout, in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird as she struggles to understand the world around her in a 1930s Southern Alabama Community. In Lee's novel, Scout encounters multiple situations where she is forced to see ideas from the perspective of others. The roots of Scout’s issue with perspective can be seen in the beginning of the novel, however as the story continues Scout’s actions change as a result of lessons learned from …show more content…
One of these lessons is taught by a man named Mr. Dolphus Raymond. In the text before Scout actually talks to Mr. Raymond she says, “Mr. Dolphus Raymond was an evil man.” Scout thinks he is very dishonorable because she believes he is always drunk. However, as she has a conversation with him she realizes this isn't the truth and she shouldn't have judged him before she met him. She recognizes that what was she always thought was alcohol was simply Coca-Cola and what she thought was him being a vile man was just the way he lived to give others a reason for him being around African Americans all the time. Although this was a small event, she learns not to judge others before she meets them. Later in the book, Atticus is reading Scout a story about a boy who turned out to be innocent of a crime that he was accused of committing. Scout says, “Atticus he was real nice” (Lee 280). She sees how the rumors hurt the boy in the book although he did nothing wrong. It shows the theme of giving others a chance before you judge them. When Boo came out of his house at the end of the book, Scout realizes he was nice and that she shouldn't have believed the rumors she'd heard about him before she actually met him. He isn't what she assumed and she realizes there was a good reason for him wanting to stay inside. She stated on page 278 that “Boo was our neighbor…we had given him nothing and it made me sad.” Scout’s action of feeling remorse for what happens with Boo conveys the changes she goes through in regards to her perspective. Along with Tom Robinson’s unfair trial, Scout is subject to the harsh realities of the world that shapes her to be a more mature person in the end. Through these lessons Scout grows older, but she also grows as a person and is taught by the people in her community on how to act. Over the course of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout
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