To Kill A Mockingbird Narrative Analysis

Authors often have a very good reason for choosing a particular personality for their story’s narrator. Scout was a vital character in the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Her impartial outlook on life and people was highly voluntary in order to produce the theme and message that Harper Lee was sending to her readers. Many of the events in the story would not have happened or would have occurred very differently if the novel was told through the eyes of an adult narrator. Even though Scout’s narration is often faulty or inaccurate, her innocence often allows readers to see the events and characters in the novel more clearly. Nevertheless, some still believe that Scout’s narration was unnecessary. There are many other young characters in
the novel that are innocent, however none of them truly could tell the story the way that Scout could. Her overall personality builds the theme of the novel. While Jem was also an innocent young being, he was beginning to grow to understand society in a more accepting way because he realized there was nothing that he could personally do to change it. He also was not nearly as curious as Scout was. Scout’s curiosity is what really helps give the reader the exposition without just blankly stating it. The many questions that Scout has often relate to the background of the town, and are often answered in dialogue. A character such as Jem would not have been able to fulfill such requirements. Another argument is that the novel could have been written in third-person and still have the same effect. While third-person point-of-view would work better than being narrated by another character, it still would not have been strong enough. Scout’s feelings help unravel the mystery of Boo Radley and show some of the common prejudice in the town, that she feels almost obligated to participate in, until she is corrected by her father. In many ways, Lee manages to give her readers a good exposition and reveal what is common in the town of Maycomb.
Quite a number of times, Harper Lee makes good use of Scout’s narration by slowly uncovering the underlying secrets of Maycomb. For example: “Cecil Jacobs made me forget. He had announced in the schoolyard the day before that Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers. I denied it, but told Jem.” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 99). This small piece of the story continues with Scout questioning her father: “’Do you defend niggers, Atticus?’ I asked him that evening. ‘Of course I do. Don’t say nigger, Scout. That’s common.’” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 99). Scout’s innocence and her having no former knowledge about what a “nigger-lover” is, helps the reader when she later questions her father. Because she is young and still needs to talk to her father to help her understand things, the common ways of her town are very clearly revealed. If Scout was older and already knew this information, Harper Lee would have a lot less creative result when she finished her novel. The young, innocent Scout makes the story flow and make sense while giving the reader plenty of background knowledge. Another example is when Walter Cunningham comes over to eat and drowns his food in syrup: “Atticus shook his head at me again. ‘But he’s gone and drowned his dinner,’ I protested. ‘He’s poured it all over-‘” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 32). Later on, Calpurnia corrects Scout saying, “’That boy’s
yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?’” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 32). Through Scout’s ignorance, Harper Lee illustrates how the Finch family acts and what their values are. It really helps the reader understand how the Finch family chooses to act compared to how others in Maycomb do. Another time like this one is when Scout complains about how her first day at school went and Atticus gives her some helpful advice: “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 39). This sentence once again gives the reader a feel for the Finches values. Using a young girl who still gets corrected and asks many questions made the novel’s exposition extremely effective because it helps the author resist just writing everything out in a factual manner. Using Scout as the narrator also helps develop the characters (especially her) in the novel.
One way that she personally developed in the novel was that at the beginning of the novel, Scout wanted nothing to do with becoming a grown lady: “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches…” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 108). However, near the end of the novel, Scout changes her viewpoint on becoming a lady: “After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I.” (“To Kill a Mockingbird” 318). On page 372, Scout allows Boo Radley to escort her as she walks him home. If this had happened at the beginning of the novel, Scout would not have been mature enough to know how important it was to have it look like Boo was escorting her. These instances reveal some major changes that Scout endures over the time period of the novel. If Scout had not been narrating the way she was, these changes would have been way too sudden. As Scout learns more about what being a real lady is, she begins to slowly become fond of the idea. Calpurnia, Miss Maudie Atkinson, and even Aunt Alexandra become Scout’s role-models for becoming a young lady. Scout’s narration even helps develop other characters such as Jem. Scout briefly mentions that Jem had changed and that he thought he knew everything, but later it is easy to see that he is a bit of a know-it-all and very bossy. For example, he tells Scout that if she
doesn’t stop antagonizing Aunty, he’ll “spank” her. This fuels an argument and a big fight. The fact that Jem thought he could intervene and tell Scout what to do infuriated her. Though this only lightly touches on Jem’s changing, it is enough to show that he is beginning to think that he is like the adults and can tell younger children what to do. On the whole, Scout was an absolute necessity to the novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Even though Scout’s narration is often faulty or inaccurate, her innocence often allows readers to see the events and characters in the novel more clearly. Scout’s viewpoint both builds up a strong exposition and develops her and other characters in the novel. Thanks to Scout, the novel flows the way it needs to and produces a proper theme.