To Kill A Mockingbird Change Of Perspective

A Divergent View Similar to walking around in someone else’s shoes, this is what changes Jem and Scout’s viewpoint of understanding. In this simile, Atticus tries to teach an important lesson about truly accepting one’s situation to alter Jem and Scout’s outlook with people. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird reveals that a change of perspective can lead to a different way of understanding through a similar metaphor, idiom, and the plot twist of finding out that Boo Radley is not akin to Jem’s absurd descriptions. There are multiple themes in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, but one specifically shows metaphorically that viewing a person from a different angle can reveal new information. For example, Atticus Finch, the father of Jem and
Scout, explains that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from [their] point of view- until you climb into [their] skin and walk around in it” (Lee 39). Atticus tried to give a new standpoint to introduce how someone else can feel or think in another way. Scout, the daughter of Atticus Finch, and the narrator of the story, began to comprehend why her teacher, Miss Caroline, was harsh to her on the first day of school. Soon Scout grasps that Miss Caroline “could not […] learn all of Maycomb’s ways in one day,” and that she “could not hold her responsible when [Miss Caroline] knew no better” (Lee 40). Seeing Miss Caroline’s situation from her angle made Scout feel sympathy for her, despite the hatred Scout felt toward Miss Caroline when she punished her at school. After Scout had changed her perspective, she found a new way to comprehend Miss Caroline, and found out that she had a reason for her impolite behavior. Now making sense of Atticus’ idiom, Scout faced another situation that she did not quite fathom why it was happening, so she tried to acquire a new point of view of the problem. Scout’s older brother Jem had started to reject her as he started to grow up, so she “Tried to climb into Jem’s skin” and figure out why (Lee 77). She had found out that Jem just did not want her around to embarrass him, since he was growing older and became more “moody” (Lee 77). Both Jem and Scout faced another problem that they did not have pleasant feelings for. Mrs. Dubose, a rude old lady who had become extremely sick began to annoy Jem and Scout which aggravated them both, but Jem the most. To give a new perspective, Atticus made Jem read to Mrs. Dubose for over a month while Scout accompanied Jem. After Mrs. Dubose died, Atticus had told Jem that, “She had her own views about things, a lot different from mine, maybe… I wanted you to see what real courage is; instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand” (Lee 149). Atticus had given Jem and Scout a new way of seeing why Mrs. Dubose had spat out awful insults, and shown them what it is to be brave. Not only did Jem and Scout grasp some understanding of Mrs. Dubose’s actions, but they too gained courage to keep an open mind about other peoples’ views. Furthermore, with an open mind Scout gradually began to wonder who Boo Radley, a man who was mysteriously hidden away in his house, actually was since she only had false information about him from Jem.
A plot twist towards the end truly shifts Scout’s understanding of Boo Radley. Though before the plot twist, Scout already was beginning to realize Boo’s situation differently, thinking that “What Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house he had the right to stay inside free from the attentions of inquisitive children” (Lee 65). Scout put herself in Boo Radley’s shoes and came up with many reasons why Boo would want to stay hidden away in his house, showing that she had figured out a new way to appreciate him aside from her curiosities and fears of him. The more she did this, the more she began to feel sympathy and “remorse” for Boo Radley (Lee 324). Upon further thought, Scout had realized how terrible it was of her and Jem to take “part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur [Boo] Radley” (Lee 324). Before this realization, Scout had thought it was okay to pry at Boo Radley to manage to catch a glimpse of him or to find out more about him. Now with this different perception of her actions, she knows it was wrong of her and Jem to do such actions to Boo Radley. Boo Radley ends up saving Jem and Scout’s lives later on, and he is not terrifying as Jem once said he was, totally changing Scout’s perspective
of understanding for the better. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus taught Jem and Scout a skill that is needed to be aware of how other people may feel or view circumstances that will be strange to them, but can be understood if they are welcoming and open to a new point of view. There are billions of people in the world and they all have their own opinions and wonderful ideas, but to truly appreciate that, one must see it through the eyes of the person.