To Kill a Mockingbird

Nguyen 1
Kelly Nguyen 524
Ms. Jung
English 2
7 November 2012
Scout Understanding Someone People learn to understand others. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout slowly sees things in different points of view. She acknowledges that Arthur "Boo" Radley is a shy, child-like but nice person. Scout realizes that Miss Caroline is not familiar with Maycomb's ways. She also comprehends Jem. People should observe both sides of the story before they start pointing fingers. Scout realizes how Boo feels. At first, she thinks Boo is scary. She feels this way because rumor has it that he stabbed his father. She thinks differently when Boo gives her and her brother Jem gifts. Scout is motivated to invite Boo out of his house because she thinks he is nice. At the end, Scout sees that Boo is a hero even though he is asinine. She would like to repay his kindness because he saved her and Jem's life. In conclusion, Scout discovers that Boo is the exact opposite of what she thought of him in the beginning. He is truly an admirable person. Scout understands Miss Caroline. Before, Scout had misunderstandings with her teacher so she did not want to go back to school. She feels this way because Miss Caroline could not accept the fact that Scout already knew how to read and write. Scout changes when she begins to understand that Miss Caroline did not mean any harm in any of the things she did. As a result, she evidently realizes that she cannot expect Miss Caroline to learn all of Maycomb's ways in one day. Scout knows that they cannot
Nguyen 2 hold Miss Caroline responsible when she knew no better. In conclusion, Scout resolves all of her misunderstandings of her teacher with the help of her father's advice. She used it again the next time there was a misunderstanding, but with her brother Jem. Scout acknowledges Jem. At the beginning, Scout did not understand why Jem stayed silent and moody for a week after his traumatic experience of going back to the Radley house alone in the morning. She feels hurt because she wanted Jem to talk to her and play with her. Scout changes as she sees things in Jem's perspective. She is motivated to leave Jem alone and not bother him because if she had gone to the Radley place alone at two in the morning, she would have been really scared too. As a result, this indicates that Scout understands how Jem feels. She leaves him alone because she put herself in his shoes. Atticus claims, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view." (Lee 30) He means that by seeing things in another individual's point of view helps Scout better understand others as well. To summarize, Scout grew and matured much throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. When Scout is standing on the Radley's porch, she pictures her neighborhood from Boo's point of view and now she understands him. Since Miss Caroline didn't know Maycomb's ways, Scout now understands that she didn't mean anything bad in the things she did. She also put herself in Jem's shoes and interpreted that she would most likely act how Jem did if she experienced the same traumatic event Jem encountered. Atticus declares, "All men are not created equal but they should be equal in court." (Lee 205) The Tom Robinson case was a perfect example to showcase this quote but it was instead extremely racist. But the case influenced Scout in understanding the importance of seeing things from other people's perspectives. Scout sees things from a member of the Negro church point of view when she visits the church with Calpurnia. When Reverend Sykes was collecting money from the church members, Scout
Nguyen 3 understood that they still support each other when other Negroes have problems in life. Atticus pronounces, "It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they only sand and didn't hurt anyone." (Lee 90) The mockingbird in the story is Tom Robinson. It was a sin to kill him because he was clearly innocent but was killed anyway. Scout sees things from Dolphus Raymond's view after he explained to her that white people shouldn't discriminate black people because they are human too. She jumps into Doplhus' skin and discovers that he isn't a sinister man. She finds out that he is instead a wise man and he doesn't care if he is contemptuous or notoriety. All of these people have influenced Scout in understanding others. She has turned from a child in the beginning of the book into a maturing young adult in the end.