I want you to think about those people that you like, that are in your inner circle, and then about the people on the outside of your circle. Why are they outside? Is it, just possibly, because they are different than you? Or because you’ve heard something about them? Or possibly just looking at them, you feel like there is something wrong about them? Even without even speaking to them. It’s not something we always realise we do, but often times we make decisions about people before we know them, but it’s wrong to let those opinions to take hold without knowing the whole story. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we see this idea introduced. Through her structure and order of events, Lee illustrates that you can’t really judge someone until you understand them.
In the novel, Harper Lee uses several literary tools to show the theme of not prematurely judging someone. This thought is first introduced to Scout Finch by her father Atticus, when she is struggling to see her teacher’s perspective. He tells her, “‘First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it”’ (Lee 22). Atticus teaching her this
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Or rather, we do it with . At the very end of the novel, we finally see Scout get it, and in turn better see ourselves. After walking Boo Radley home, she makes a sudden realisation, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (Lee 237). It is in this moment that Scout Finch sees the world for what it is, at least in another man’s eyes. Her prejudices are dashed, as she sees that you do need to stand in someone else’s place to know