A discussion on "To Kill a Mockingbird" and an evaluation of the Ken Watson Quote

"To Kill A Mockingbird" is an inspiring novel written by Harper Lee. Through the eyes of innocent six-year-old Scout, Lee presents many adult societal issues such as prejudice. The advantage of presenting the story through the eyes of a child such as this, is that a child's view of the adult's world is very accurate, unaffected by adult values, prejudices, and self -deceptions. However, the danger of this is that the author can present adult opinions through the voice of the child. This is a very debated topic and can be discussed thoroughly using examples from the text of "To Kill A Mockingbird".

The novel begins as the voice of a mature adult recalling events from childhood, sometimes shifting into the point of view of a six-year old. Using this point of view, Harper Lee has a major advantage of depicting attitudes and values across to the reader.

English: US writer Harper Lee during Medal of Free...

English: Lee Harper

scouts

However, there is a debate as to whether her own adult opinions and beliefs are present in the voice of Scout. Throughout her childhood, Scout develops and expands her values and ideas as she encounters characters who come from all levels of Maycomb's society. Through an innocent child point of view, Scout learns about justice and injustice by watching the trial of an African American man. She witnesses the divisions of class and race in her small town. She discovers courage, both in herself and in those around her, and she comes to respect the diversity of the people in her community, people such as Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. There is rarely a situation in which unusual Scout does not learn something new about education, superstition, bravery, or cowardice. Even so, if Scout were not an unusual child, the views of the adult world may have...