Boo Radley's Innocence

To Kill a Mocking Bird (referred to as ‘TKAMB’ hereafter) is a novel set in the 1930, South
Alabama, written in 1960 by writer Harper Lee. The story’s main theme revolves around
prejudice and racism, after the great depression and is told through the eyes of a young
girl, Jean Louise Finch (denoted as Scout). Scout’s father, Atticus, is a lawyer who is given
the job of proving the innocence of a negro man, Tom Robinson who is unfairly tried in
court for the crime of sexual assault. The first section of the book features Scout and Jem
tormenting a man, mentally unwell – Arthur Radley or “Boo Radley” as commonly referred
to in the book, and eventually befriends him. After Tom Robinson is executed despite his
innocence, the girl’s father,

Bob Ewell attempts to attack Scout and Jem for defaming his
family, but fortunately Boo Radley intervenes and kills Bob in self-defence. The question
this essay will cover is: Why Harper Lee chose to convey Scout as the raconteur for these
events. For this, I have three main ideologies; firstly, because Scout is a young child (barely
5 at the start of the book, and 8 at the end) and therefore her experiences were honest
and she does not lie, deform or refrain certain details from the truth. Secondly, because
she is naïve and quite transparent to most of the events which are going on around her.
Thirdly and finally, because of how she develops her ethical reasoning consequently after
certain events. These three themes, are, what I believe, the reasons behind Mrs Lee’s
choice in placing the story behind the eyes of Scout Finch.

When children are young, many lack the social know-how to lie subtly or so rather, they do
not realise the potential benefits of inventing fables and are many are puzzled when asked
why someone would do such a thing. There so, children are known for being brutally
honest and ‘pure’ with no malice intent whatsoever. Scout is no different, especially as
Atticus is a big influencer of hers, and tells Scout numerous times to be honest in life; in
the book, this extract can be found: “Atticus looked around from behind his paper... He
sighed, and said rape was carnal knowledge of a female by force and without consent.
Atticus hopes that his children will always come to him for answers”. After Scout questions
Atticus on what ‘rape’ is, Atticus responds honestly thus proving of Atticus’s intent of
honesty in even the most taboo of situations, which is a philosophy Scout also adopts. In
as early as chapter 3, Scout insults Walter Cunningham by commenting on his method of
eating food, “Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He
would probably have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked what the sam-hill he was
doing.”, she does not mean to be insulting but only speaks her mind honestly. The third
example, when Scout speaks on the behalf of Walter Cunningham when her teacher, Mrs
Caroline offers to lend him money to buy lunch, ““I tried again: “Walter’s one of the
Cunninghams, Miss Caroline, I beg your pardon, Jean Louise?”. Scout again is honest and
frank in this situation as she does not realize the property of being dishonest in this
situation, as her social perception is not adept enough to recognize it. Consequently, her
honesty as a child is one of the reasons to why Harper Lee chose Scout as a main
personality to the story.

Scout is naïve and relates Left and Right to Right and Wrong.

She believes there is only right or wrong as there is black and white; there is no grey area; middle area. This is common as with youth comes inexperience, comes naivety. The first example of her naivety occurs in chapter 8 she declares “I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”, and thinks that everyone shares the same thoughts and opinions thus displaying the inexperience of youth. The second article that suggests Scout is rather simple, is when Jem later remarks, “That’s what I thought too, when I was your age. If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike why do, they get along with each other? I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all the time… it’s because he wants to stay inside.”, indicating that Scout believes that Boo Radley stays isolated in his house because he is forced to, and not because he wants to stay inside, again suggesting that Scout believes that everyone as the same intentions as her. The third example resides in Chapter 15, when she is ignorant to the fact that the men who gathered around her father had malice intent against him and Tom Robinson, “You know what we want,” another man said. Get aside from the door, Mr. Finch... I pushed my way through dark smelly bodies and burst into the circle of light… I go to school with Walter… Tell him hey for me, won’t you…I’ll tell him you said hey, little lady, he said...Let’s clear out he called…Let’s get going, boys.”, Scout does not even respond to most obvious emotions and does not recognize Mr Cunningham being shameful, this shows she does not have the best comprehension of social cues and therefore tells the story free of interpretation. Her naivety is a major reason why Harper Lee chose Scout to be the main

character.

Scout’s development from an immature child to an understanding and reasoning member of society is a major element in TKAMB. Her erudition at the start of the novel is derisory at the start of the novel, but as she experiences more and more, her naivety drifts away and she begins to act like her father, and use ethical reasoning increasingly. The first indication of her development is her progressive empathy throughout the novel. In the beginning of the book, she asks ignorant questions and cannot think as to why Walter Cunningham not having money for no other reason other than “because he is a Cunningham”, after Atticus tells her that “You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view, until you climb into their skin and walk around in it”, after learning this, she starts to understand Jem’s behaviour and starts to relate to the Cunninghams (ie; when she relates to Mr Cunningham when they go to the prison to lynch Tom Robinson). Second, and most important moment which confirms that Scout is really progressing, comes with the quote, “As Tom Robinson gave his testimony, it came to me that Mayella Ewell must have been the loneliest person in the world. She was even lonelier than Boo Radley, who had not been out of the house in twenty-five years…”, she understands this because she utilizes her father’s philosophy of “walking around in someone’s skin”, and relates to Mayella and feels empathy for her, the first time Scout decisively appreciates someone else’s situation. The third example, is near the end, when she overcomes her initial perception of Boo Radley and grasps why he did, what he did and his social paranoia. To identify mental instabilities is a very complex perception, especially so for a child of Scout’s tender age and therefore supports the ideology that Scout is maturing and effectively reasoning when taking into consideration social cues.

Jean-Louise Scout is a perfect narrator for TKAMB, because of her; honesty in situations –confirming that the truth is in full and not manipulated in any sense. Secondly, her naivety – she argues for convenience and not conscious, in several situations in the novel, which allows for the reader to percept the information in their own moral therefore creating a rewarding experience for the reader as they feel that they comprehend the situation more effectively than scout. Thirdly and finally her development as the story pans out, which is an interesting element throughout the novel as the reader gets to see Scout see different perspectives of life and take different decisions consequently. Overall, Harper Lee does a brilliant job in creating Scout as a character and making these three elements accentuated.