Grey Perspective In To Kill A Mockingbird

Occasionally it can be hard to see the world from a perspective other than your own. Most people understand little of the outside world due to the fact of their limited views of other people’s world. Being able to understand the perspective of other people can be a topic that is brought up much more as we grow up, but it can be a hard topic for some narrow minds to grasp. Scout, who can be a very black or white person, was never taught how to view the world from a “grey” perspective. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout discovers precious lessons about life, learns about outside worlds, and how to live in a world that is not so black and white.

When Scout Finch arrives at school, she is surrounded by overbearing teachers and people who do not understand the ways of Maycomb County. Scout’s teacher tells her that continuing to read with her father will affect her learning since her father never attended school. Yet, reading different forms of literature had become a daily

routine to Scout and Atticus. Miss Caroline, Scout’s teacher, did not know that reading together had become just a large part of the Finch household. Miss Caroline quickly judges the Finch family, and Scout is offended by her snap judgement, but this entire interaction could have just been a misunderstanding. Atticus says this to Scout, “…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- until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Making mistakes is a part of human nature, which by being new to Maycomb County, Miss Caroline would make several of them. Both Scout and Miss Caroline made an honest mistake with their conversation about Scout reading at home with her father. Miss Caroline also made a mistake by trying to give a hand out to a Cunningham because they never accept offerings from someone without contemplating what it might be. As a newbie to the town, she does not yet understand the rules and customs of the members of Maycomb County. An alternate view as to why Miss Caroline tried to stop her from reading literature with her father could be that she was following school regulated rules. Yet Scout thought Miss Caroline was judging her before even thinking about her reasoning.
Scout then thought about the Ewell family because they never attended school, “Burris Ewell, remember?

He just goes to school the first day.” However, it is not his fault that he never comes to school because the Ewell family had been a disgrace to Maycomb County for three generations. The father hunted out of season, which was a high crime in Maycomb County, and he spends his money on liquor instead of on food for his starving children. Food during most parts of the year were likely scarce around the Ewell household. Trash surrounds the house; therefore, making it seem like they lived as animals in a pen more than humans in a house. Burris seemed to receive the short end of the deal providing that not going to school was a normal thing for his family. The Ewell family had just evolved into a family that was not well respected in Maycomb County. Ewell children seem to be branded with their family name, and they never had a chance to actually prove themselves in or out of the school

system.
When people try, people can learn many things in a short period of time. Scout learned not to get so defensive of her father, and Miss Caroline learned not to judge her students. She learned to not judge Scout for of her reading habits, not to judge Burris for not attending school, and not to hand anything to a Cunningham. All of these interactions taught each person an individual lesson: that you should never judge a book by its cover. Everyone, but most importantly Scout, learns that someone else’s world is much different than your own, and that you can actually learn something about someone if you try to see the world from their view. Each member of Maycomb County learned that the world is not so black and white, and that you really cannot understand someone’s life until you climb in their skin and walk around in it.