Seeing things from the perspective of someone else is an important skill for everyone to have. Perspective can change a murder into self defense. Perspective is not only important in real life. It is also important in the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In To Kill a Mockingbird, perspective was a significant theme in the book because of Scout’s perspective, Atticus’s perspective, and other people seeing things from Atticus’s perspective.
One example of significant perspective in To Kill A Mockingbird is Scout’s perspective. During Tom Robinson’s trial, there was a point when scout put herself into the shoes of Mayella Ewell. “As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world” (Lee 256). In this quote Scout is putting herself into Mayella’s shoes to
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“‘First of all,’ he said, ‘if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all types 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 39). In this quote, Atticus is teaching Scout to put herself into the shoes of others’. This is significant because it will help Scout, who tends to think about herself more often, understand people better in the future. Atticus also teaches Jem about perspective in the book. After Bob Ewell threatens to get Atticus, Jem and scout are concerned for their father; however, when Jem talks to him about it, he tells Jem not to worry and teaches him a lesson about perspective. “Jem, see if you can stand in Bob Ewell’s shoes a minute… You understand?” (Lee 292). In this quote, Atticus is putting himself into the shoes of Bob Ewell; he uses the situation to teach Jem an important lesson about perspective. This is significant because Atticus is enabling Jem to use