What Is Scout's Point Of View In To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, is told from Scout’s point of view, and because of that, the novel is told through a filter of innocence, as Scout is a young, naïve girl. Societal views have not affected her much at her young age. However, throughout the story, the filter begins to fade, as she has realizations that changes her viewpoints on people and ideas. Scout becomes more mature in the process, in the way that she understands more. Scout’s innocence contributes to how the story is told, as learns about the idea of prejudice and looking at the world through a different perspective. In the beginning of the novel. Scout is not able to understand the severity of the situation when she, Dill, and Jem sneak out to go find Atticus
Scout is now in the third grade, and she has a new teacher, Miss Gates. In class, Miss Gates teaches about prejudice, and as an example, she teaches the class about Hitler and the Nazis discriminating against Jews. Miss Gates says to the class, “Over here we don’t believe in persecuting anyone. Persecution comes from people who are prejudiced” (page 329). Scout thinks to herself that there’s something wrong with this statement, and when she goes home she asks Jem, “How can you hate Hitler so bad an’ then turn around and be ugly about folks right at home?” (page 331). Scout has a major realization that prejudice is also right where she lives. It’s easy to see how Scout relates this back to the Tom Robinson case, as there was enough evidence to prove Tom’s innocence, but because he was black, he was found to be “guilty”. When children are taught an idea or belief, they tend to stick with it, but the idea also needs to be enforced. The third graders are taught about how prejudice is a bad thing, but that belief is not enforced in their own town, which doesn’t make teaching the idea effective. To combat prejudice, the idea of equality should not only be taught, but enforced as