In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1961), Harper Lee uses the inclusion of Scout, a young, innocent girl who lives in Maycomb Alabama. Throughout the book, Scout learns to become more mature about her actions which eventually makes her very empathetic toward others. She is more of a tomboyish girl who is very clever at times. The author uses Jean Louise Finch, an innocent and empathetic character to shape the reader's understanding of the story
Throughout the book, Scout's innocence shapes the story in a more significant way. For example, when Atticus got approached by the mob in jail, scout walks up to them and says “Well, Atticus, I was just saying to Mr. Cunningham that entailments are bad and all that but you said not to worry. It takes a long time sometimes… and that you’d ride it out together”(Lee156). This quote shows how Scout's immaturity made her talk to the mob not knowing the severity of the issue. She is uninformed of what’s correct to do in this situation due to Atticus’ issue. Additionally, when Jem tells Scout that there are four different kinds of people, she says “I told Jem if that was so then why didn’t Tom’s jury made up of folks like the Cunningham’s, acquit Tom to spite the Ewells? Jem waved my question away as being infantile” (Lee229). Since Scout is immature, Jem waves her question as if it wasn’t asked, making her statements useless. Due to this Scout is treated with no respect when making suggestions towards more “mature” topics. Scout's immaturity gives her less of a say in important things and even jeopardizes issues with others.
Jean Louise’s empathy towards others informs readers that family is very important in the Finch household. For example, when Jem is told to read to Mrs. Dubose, Scout goes with him and experiences empathy for her by saying “In the corner of the room was a brass bed, and in the bed was Mrs. Dubose. I wondered if Jem’s activities had put her there, and for a moment I felt sorry for her”(Lee110). Scout feels bad for Mrs. Dubose, she is very sick and due to experiencing that, she feels empathetic for Mrs. Dubose. She wants her to be okay and would hate for her to suffer. Scout puts herself in Mrs. Dubose’s shoes and realizes that she would be miserable and would not want to experience it. Furthermore, Scout was unhappy Dill didn’t come for summer and begins to dwell upon the fact that Dill is an important part of her life, she says “Summer was the swiftness with which Dill would reach up and kiss me when Jem was not looking, the longings we sometimes felt each other feel. With him, life was routine; without him, life was unbearable. I stayed miserable for two days”(Lee 118). Scout feels what Dill feels, they share the same feelings making them miss each other over the summer. Dill and Scout have empathy for one another due to the fact that Dill was not able to come for summer, making Scout reminisce about all the times she’s spent with Dill. Because of scouts empathy, the reader feels more of a glad feeling when reading and knows that Scouts is a caring/loving person
Jean Louise is a very important character in English literature and is used in the book To Kill A Mockingbird magnificently. Harper Lee portrays an image of Scout to shape the reader's understanding of the story. He uses Scout because her point of view as an innocent young little girl, it structures the book better than if Jem, Tom, or Boo narrated it. She gives a better purpose to read the book due to her development as a maturing girl. Scout is relatable to some people’s everyday lives and strives for people to become better