Racial inequality has been a controversial dilemma in relations to moral ethics for centuries. Martin Luther King Jr. was an iconic American civil-rights activist who was famous throughout the entire world. In contrast, nobody had ever heard of a humble town in Alabama named Maycomb. Perhaps it doesn’t deserve recognition, but in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the author used numerous literary devices to emphasize the theme of racism through the unique visions of Scout, a six-year old. In the middle of the twentieth century when racial prejudice in the United States was at it’s worst, the Finch family independently treated the black people with equality. With Scout being the youngest in the family, her father Atticus stood firmly as a model for she and her brother, Jem. Although members of the community constantly question him, Atticus never changed his opinions about the loathed black people even within his work as a lawyer. To describe and reflect these emotionally mature themes, the author decided to utilize Scout as the narrator. Explicitly, this juvenile storyteller expertly delivered elements of the story through her profound observations and analysis. To loosen the tense situations, the simplicity of Scout’s dialogue still showcased her childish characteristics. From Scout’s neutral storytelling, there was room for the reader to gather opinion for himself or herself about the topic. In summation, Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird uses Scout’s child-like, first person narration to give the reader a descriptive, unbiased, and truthful image of a racially prejudiced society.
As a racially unprejudiced lawyer in the town of Maycomb, Atticus Finch ignored all negativity towards him to maintain his unbiased opinion towards the back people. Similarly, Scout Finch, being the daughter of Atticus, inherited the mindset of her father. Judging a person on his or her morality, not the complexion of his or her pigment, was one of Scout’s best quality best quality. A part of Scout’s virtuous practice also naturally came from her youth. Since she was still a child, her comprehension skills weren’t fully developed enough to apprehend why the racial injustice was occurring or how to end it. This innocent curiosity was understandable due to the fact that there was actually very meager evidence for why the black people were unfairly treated. This ethnic group was never infamous history of crimes or offensive traditions, but was a hard-working and humble group. An example from the text on page 192 says: “No suh, Mr. Finch…. Of his own volition” this example showed Scout’s ignorance for the opinion of others towards the black-skinned people and her morally correct mentality toward them. Another example from the text on page 193 says: “Tom’s velvet skin has begun to shine.. say then Tom?” explained the ability which Scout possesses to judge the righteousness of one without being influenced by their reputation or physical traits. Additionally, Scout’s childish tone, which the author chose to use to depict this dilemma, combined with her vocabulary created contrast between Scout and the others in the community about their mindset. From the literary features the author utilized within the story, the opinions of the characters came to life to emotionally connect and influence the reader.
The expression ”don’t judge a book by its cover” was publicly accepted, so why should you ever underestimate the power of a child due to his or her physical stature? In the story, Scout was able to give meticulous descriptions of characters while proficiently processing his or her demeanor. An example from text on page 270 clearly showed this characteristic that Scout possessed: “Who was it?…I half pointed to the man in the corner…his face was as white as his hands…Hey Boo, I said.” Despite all of the erratic opinions people had about Mr.Radley, Scout had a positive one. Her inner processes include analysis of Mr.Radley’s emotions through his appearance and gesture to come out of her mouth as the usual speech of a child. An alternate example in the story involving Scout’s maturity was on page 128-129: “I could think of nothing else…and I suppose her coming to live with us was in that category.” Despite Jem and her unwillingness for aunty to live with them was palpable, Scout knew her father and aunt had certain goals in mind. Despite acquiescing to her father, Scout generated a mature opinion towards the situation. To accurately portray the situation during the midst of South-American slavery, the author still developed meaningful characters to coincide with the plot. However, using Scout as the storyteller, the events in the story could be expressed without the personality of a prejudiced townsperson. The plot of the story added substance into the book while the other quintessential elements such as characters contributed the flavour to engage the audience. Harper Lee effectively used Scout to drive the plot while stopping to smell the roses through each riveting character.
By constructing original characters within real historic conflicts, To Kill A Mockingbird created a physically lethargic but mentally complex town of Maycomb to judge the rights and wrongs of human behavior. Using multiple literary devices such as diction, tone, and setting, Lee shone the spotlight on both the racial injustice and Scout’s exceptional mentality and maturity. Nevertheless, the natural curiosity and naivety children possess was still evident in Scout. Taking these opportunities, the author expressed questions from the roots of human behavior. Although Scout’s wonder about why the majority of the population developed hatred towards the black people, although couldn’t be answered, doubted the monuments of American culture. Even though the story was told in an open-minded manner, the occurrences in the community definitely weren’t unbiased. From Scout’s provoking internal monologue and truthful speech, the readers were able to enter a world of racial prejudice through the eyes of an unbiased individual.