We see the
story through 's eyes, told as a first-person or "I" narrative. Scout is a young girl,
starting at age six and gradually maturing over several years as the story unfolds, in fictional
Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s, the era of the Great Depression.
Because
Scout is telling the story, we get a lively and intelligent child's perspective on life in a
small Southern town, and we are able to feel the texture of day-to-day life as Scout experiences
it. Because she is so young, she has not fully internalized the town's racism and can't, for
example, understand why she shouldn't visit Calpurnia's home or treat Calpurnia with anything
but respect as a surrogate mother. Seeing life through Scout's eyes, we are able to perceive
more fully the absurdity and injustice of Southern racism that leads to Tom Robinson's obviously
wrong murder conviction and death.
Perhaps more importantly, we learn
aboutthrough Scout's perceptions of him. He is a hero figure to her, a fount of knowledge,
integrity, courage, and wisdom. Yet because Scout makes mistakes about himfor example, comically
believing he doesn't measure up because he is older than the other parents and doesn't
"do" anything (at least until he shoots the rabid dog and she learns he is a
sharpshooter)it is easier for us to accept Atticus's many merits. Through Scout's depiction of
Atticus and her evolving appreciation of him as an exemplary human being, we also learn the same
life lessons about honor and character that Scout learns from this extraordinary
father.
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