How Does Lee Use Flashback In To Kill A Mockingbird

“‘Until you climb around in his skin and walk around in it”’(Atticus 33). In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus told Scout this after she started to realize that there are different kinds of poverty in her town, and Scout feels that she doesn’t want to attend school because of the rules Miss Caroline wants her to follow. In Chapter Three, the literary elements flashback, point of view, and setting develop the theme that no one should ever be judged until one gets to know her and her story.

It is important to know that To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was purely based on a flashback. Initially, the book begins with Scout describing that her brother Jem had his arm broken years ago, and Scout mentions that they can now look

Scout starts the story and as she uses flashbacks, it starts to reveal the type of character she was along with her small town. As the story progresses we start to learn about the type of lessons that Atticus teaches his children and what he expects from them, not only as being his children but being good humans in the world. Scout also reveals her fear of a man named Boo Radley, she doesn’t actually know this man, but based on rumors spread about him she presumes he is a bad person. “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off,”(14). Jem describes Boo Radley this way because of the rumors they heard about his appearance as

Scout has only ever known Boo Radley as a troublemaker that eats kids based off of what others said about him. Whereas, Atticus saw Boo Radley as a mockingbird that should never be harmed because he minds his own business and doesn’t bother anyone. Boo Radley always knew he was a kind soul that was underdeveloped and hid from mistakes he made in the past. They all have different points of view on Boo Radley and who he really is which is why this literary element is extremely important. “‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…”’(Atticus 33). Atticus expresses this to Scout because he knows that everyone is equal, and every story has multiple sides and point of views. This is what makes Scout realize that everyone has a point of view on things, though it is most important to learn about the source first before accusing. Rumors and perspectives are what can ruin a life, this knowledge allows Scout to look at everything from multiple aspects rather than one. Throughout the entire story, there are different viewpoints on everything from everyone in this story, and Scout learns the biggest lesson of understanding another's story from their point of view rather than her