Through a child’s eyes In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird there is a main theme of acceptance throughout the entire book. The reader is looking at the problems of society through a child’s eye. Lee uses Scout’s character to force the reader to see the problems of discrimination and services the childlike point of view to teach the reader about tolerance and acceptance. There are many discriminatory actions of the residents in Maycomb. One example of someone who is criticized would be Boo Radley. Boo was shut in his house by his father as a teen and was never seen. The people of Maycomb judged him and created rumors surrounding the situation. “People said he went out at night when the moon was down and peeped in windows.” (Lee 5). The rumors would make Boo seem like he was a bad person and someone who should be avoided. Since these ideas are introduced to Scout when she is young, they seem perfectly reasonable to her and she doesn’t think that they are mean or vicious. …show more content…
Scout’s classmates begin to pick on her for her father defending Tom Robinson. Scout finds out that people don’t like it because Tom is black. “Scout lacks open-mindedness as she sees issues in black and white. Her tolerance of individual differences starts when she can understand another person’s point of view” (Dramatica.com). Atticus tells Scout she should put herself in other people’s shoes. Once she begins to see things from a new perspective she begins to see the hatefulness of some people she would have otherwise looked up