Try to make it sound like a 14 year old 8th grade girl

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee sets her story in a small, segregated southern town during the Great Depression. The story, as told in an extended flashback by a young narrator, focuses on a series of events that shape her understanding of the world and tarnish her sense of innocence. Why do you think the author chose Scout as the narrator? How do the narrator's cultural experiences as a young white Southerner influence her point of view? How do you, as a modern reader, respond to the narrator's version of events and to the events themselves

1 answer

Okay, so like, in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Harper Lee totally wanted us to see things through Scout’s eyes, right? I mean, she’s just a kid, kinda like us, and that makes everything feel super real and intense. Scout is living in this small town where everyone is, like, super divided because of race, and it's during the Great Depression, which is like, a really tough time.

So, when Scout tells the story, you get to see how she starts to figure out that not everything is fair in the world around her. It’s all about her growing up and realizing that there's a lot of injustice. Like, she starts out pretty innocent, but as things go down, her views get changed and it’s kinda heartbreaking. I think Harper Lee picked her as the narrator because it hits harder when you see all these serious issues through the eyes of a kid who’s just trying to make sense of everything. Plus, it makes us really think about how messed up things are and how unfair life can be.

As a modern reader, it’s kinda wild to see how Scout's experiences connect to the things we're still dealing with today. I mean, we might not deal with the same stuff directly, but a lot of what she learns about empathy and understanding others is still super important now, right? It makes me wanna be more aware of my own surroundings and how I treat people. It's like, we have to keep fighting for fairness, just like Atticus teaches her! Overall, Scout’s point of view is so important because it makes those heavy issues feel personal and real, and I definitely relate to her journey of figuring things out.