Society View In To Kill A Mockingbird

Society’s thoughts and beliefs can play a very influential role on one’s thoughts and beliefs. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Scout and Jem torment their neighbor Boo Radley due to his ominous and timid nature throughout the story. The children encounter Bob Ewell, who is bitter after the children’s father Atticus exposes Ewell’s daughter for being a fraud in court. Ewell then seeks out revenge on Atticus by intending to murder his children. Boo Radley saves the children, then the children begin to recognize the error of their ways. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses setting and characterization to emphasize the thought in which society can change one’s perspective on life.

Harper Lee uses the literary element setting throughout

Scout and Boo walk over to Boo’s house, where the two arrive on his porch. Scout understands reality as she looks at the town from the view of Boo’s house. Scout states, “ I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle. There were Miss Maudie’s, Miss Stephanie’s- there was our house, I could see the porch swing- Miss Rachel’s house was beyond us, plainly visible. I could see Mrs. Dubose’s… It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose’s… Winter and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children’s heartbreak. Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him” ( Lee 374). Boo Radley could see every little thing that happens in the town from his house, yet he could do nothing about it. The children think of Boo Radley as a cruel and odd man, although Maycomb transforms him into the awkward man in which he is. Harper Lee displays society influencing the children’s thought again through the use of setting. The children continue to believe Boo is a very eerie man; until Boo rescued them after being attacked by Bob Ewell. Boo later

After Scout’s encounters that day; she is introduced to the harsh reality that is Maycomb County. It became oblivious her experiences matured her: “ As I made my way home I felt very old… Jem and I would get grown but there wasn’t much for us to learn” (Lee 375). Scout’s innocence is corrupted by the town’s ways. Scout begins to grasp the horror in reality. Furthermore, Scout’s innocent nature unravels as she realizes the error in her ways in regards to her treatment of others. Scout states, “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad” (Lee 373). Scout begins to comprehend her unappreciation for Boo’s gracious nature. Scout takes everything Boo Radley gives her without a simple thanks or appreciation in return. This maturation continues in Scout throughout the story as a result of Scout’s encounters and experiences in Maycomb County, and Harper Lee expresses this thought through the use of