The story is told as a first person narration by
Jean-Louise (Scout)Finch. Scout is telling the events of her
childhood.
Scout is only six at the beginning of the story,
but the tale is actually narrated by Scout as an adult, reflecting on the events of her
childhood. There is a great advantage in this style as we the reader are given the
child's perspective on events which help us see the injustice of the racist views of the
time much more clearly, and we become involved on Atticus' education of his daughter to
appreciate people for who they are. When Scout has had her terrible first day at school,
Atticus helps her to see how to consider the views of
others-
“First of all,” he said, “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—“
“Sir?”
“—until you
climb into his skin and walk around in
it.”
The narrative style is
not restricted to childish language and expression, however, as Scout is reminiscing as
an adult. Harper Lee's style therefore gives the reader the advantage of an adult
narrator with a child's innocence and clarity.
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