Children In To Kill A Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a fiction novel by Harper Lee that takes place in the southern portion of the USA during the 1930’s. The story follows a young girl called Scout and her brother Jem while their lawyer father, Atticus, defends a black man charged of sexually assaulting a white woman. Lee uses child characters to convey certain facets society in a new light by utilizing their unbiased nature and often good morals.
Children are not inherently biased. Young people who have not seen much of the world yet can think for themselves and see things objectively. For example, Scout Finch says, “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” (Lee 376). This clearly demonstrates her ability to see all people as simply people, regardless of their
complexion, race, or ethnicity. Though to most this idea might seem very overt and easy to understand, it was actually a quite rare mindset in the town of Maycomb. In To Kill a Mockingbird, most whites in Maycomb treat blacks very poorly. The racial slur “nigger” appears 48 times in Lee’s book. Francis, Scout’s cousin, says “Grandma says it’s bad enough he [Atticus] lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’” (Lee 136). Had the main character been an adult, she might have obtained this mindset and the story would have been from a prejudice perspective rather than an impartial viewpoint. Because children are unbiased, they can accept concepts that are outside of society’s norms. One example would be Mr. Dolphus Raymond, a man who was in a mixed-race relationship, said “Because you’re children and you’ll understand it,” (Lee 332) when Scout asked him why he had entrusted his secrets concerning his character. If Lee decided to make an adult main character who grew up surrounded in a racist environment, it’s possible that she would be prejudice as well. Alternate-Scout might even laugh at the idea that “cheatin’ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a white man” (Lee 332).
Children are not inherently biased. Young people who have not seen much of the world yet can think for themselves and see things objectively. For example, Scout Finch says, “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks” (Lee 376). This clearly demonstrates her ability to see all people as simply people, regardless of their
complexion, race, or ethnicity. Though to most this idea might seem very overt and easy to understand, it was actually a quite rare mindset in the town of Maycomb. In To Kill a Mockingbird, most whites in Maycomb treat blacks very poorly. The racial slur “nigger” appears 48 times in Lee’s book. Francis, Scout’s cousin, says “Grandma says it’s bad enough he [Atticus] lets you all run wild, but now he’s turned out a nigger-lover we’ll never be able to walk the streets of Maycomb agin. He’s ruinin’ the family, that’s what he’s doin’” (Lee 136). Had the main character been an adult, she might have obtained this mindset and the story would have been from a prejudice perspective rather than an impartial viewpoint. Because children are unbiased, they can accept concepts that are outside of society’s norms. One example would be Mr. Dolphus Raymond, a man who was in a mixed-race relationship, said “Because you’re children and you’ll understand it,” (Lee 332) when Scout asked him why he had entrusted his secrets concerning his character. If Lee decided to make an adult main character who grew up surrounded in a racist environment, it’s possible that she would be prejudice as well. Alternate-Scout might even laugh at the idea that “cheatin’ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a white man” (Lee 332).