To Kill A Mockingbird Close Reading Analysis

To Kill A Mockingbird - Close Reading Assignment Written in 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird skillfully navigates its way through the topics of empathy, understanding, and compassion. The story is told through the eyes of our protagonist, the young Jean Louise (Scout) Finch, who begins this narrative with a fight-first-think-later mentality. As the novel progresses and Scout experiences new situations, the reader can see her slowly mature through the way she begins to show empathy for those on the fringe of society, including Arthur (Boo) Radley, a man who stars in the leading role of many neighborhood rumors for his decision to never leave his house. In the final pages of this novel, Lee uses the literary elements of setting and theme to vividly depict the scene where Scout finally blossoms into a perceptive and considerate young lady.
The passage begins with Scout on the Radley’s porch after walking Boo home, directly

At the end of her epiphany, Scout remarks “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 278). Throughout the novel, Atticus, Scout’s father, has chided her about using empathy to try to understand how others experience things. The culmination of the recent events in her life led her to finally comprehend Atticus’ lesson. Furthermore, Scout is disappointed in herself as reminisces on the poor way Jem, Dill, and herself treated Boo. Scout sorrowfully remarks“But neighbors give in return. We never put back into that tree what we took out of it; we had given him nothing, and it made me sad” The fact that she is able to recognize her previous flaws show that by seeing things through Boo’s eyes, she finally knows his