Scout's Influences

John-Nicolas Furst Ms. Hallinan H. Intro 2 Lit - C Block 10 May 2006 Rough Draft Scout’s Influences When you think of small children, does higher thinking come to mind? In To Kill a Mockingbird, a book by Harper Lee, one sees the complexity of thought in children as young as eight. This story is told from the eyes of a young girl, who goes by Scout. She is a tomboy, which is one of the reasons she uses the name Scout. She has never really felt very-lady like, or felt that wearing dresses was right for her, although wearing dresses was norm for the 1930s. She is very smart; this comes from her farther who is a hard working lawyer. She is a product of the southern culture in which she lives. Scout’s characteristics have a strong and unique affect on the reader, because through her narration of the story the reader can see her kind nature, innocent child perspective, and family influences. One of Scout’s characteristics is her kind nature. Her kind nature comes through in how she treats other people. An example is when Arthur Radley, who had been a recluse for many years, asks Scout, with a very quiet childlike voice, if she would walk him home. This happens right after it is revealed that her brother Jem is alive, after he is nearly killed by an angry man. Scout recounts what her neighbor would see: “…She would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentlemen would do” (278). Scout’s kind nature makes her think that Mr. Radley, who had not been out of his house for many years would appreciate her companionship. Scout realized that she should help him in something he has very little experience with. Scout is even thinking of someone who is not close to herself. She almost exclusively thinks of others. Only someone so kind could respond to another persons need when most people would be bogged down with the more immediate concern of it her brother Jem was

alright. Scout’s kind thoughts for others likely come from another big influence in her life at that time, and that is her child’s perspective. Another way that Scout’s characteristics influenced the reader was the reader would see events from her childish perspective. While reading the book the reader would understand events before Scout could. For example when they got home from what could have been a deadly meeting with the Cunningham’s in front of the jail. It had been a very serious moment when the mob had come to lynch Tom Robinson. Scout childishly runs out from her hiding spot to help Atticus out. When she got there and started talking to the angry mob they realized they should not be doing this and they promptly left. Scout said later that night “The meaning of the night’s events hit me and I began crying” (136). One sees Scout’s childish perspective because if she was older, she would have grasped what was happening and acted differently in that situation. It is interesting that she possibly saved both Atticus and Tom’s lives that night by her childish idea of running into the middle of an angry mob. Scout seems to always have an opinion which is usually from her strong family influences. Another one of Scout’s characteristics is from strong family influence of opinions and thoughts, causing the reader to see it through her family’s prejudices. An example of this is when Atticus talks to both Jem and Scout. He talks about the common racism of white men, even when they do not notice it. Atticus is one of the few men of the south that really understands racism, and why it makes no sense sees that it is not fair. Atticus states, ‘“You couldn’t, but they could and did.…whenever a white man cheats a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash’” (220). Because Atticus tells Jem and Scout how bad racism is he helped them form early opinions that racism is bad. Whatever he tells them, they believe, because that is what children do during their early years. Atticus is very smart when

it comes to those kinds of issues and topics. The views that Scout has affects how the reader sees an event. Scout and Jem don’t have any prejudices which is very uncommon for that time period in the South, and that is because of Atticus instilling in them that prejudice is very bad. Scout’s very unique influences which include her childish perspective, kind nature, and family influences have a very strong affect on the reader. Her child perspective gives the reader a very clear view of what is happening, while her kind nature and family influences cause the reader to understand ideas, and increase the clarity of the story. Through To Kill a Mockingbird, the ideas of what really went on in the South are explained clearly. It shows what the problems are during that time period and how the need for racial equality never diminishes, although the acts of racism become less hurtful to people. When one clearly sees the problems of a situation one can see what really happens. Only if one knows what really is going on can one address an issue. If we looked at problems in our lives with the same kind of clear view point, we would likely have fewer problems, because we could address the problems of our own society.