To Kill a Mockingbird Opinion Essay Example

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you start judging and forming opinions about someone you barely even know? This action is known as “prejudging” and is performed by all humans when meeting someone new. It is very common for this topic to be discussed in literature works due to the misleading impressions that it can cause. In the To Kill a Mockingbird passage in which Scout meets her neighbor, Boo Radley, for the first time and realizes how wrong her opinions about him are, author Harper Lee uses epiphany and flashback to help develop the theme that one can never truly understand a person without getting to know them first.

Throughout the novel, Lee uses the literary device, epiphany, to help contribute to the theme. Epiphany is often used to describe the moment in a story when one of the characters realizes something for the first time. In this instance, after Scout first meets Boo Radley, she begins to understand something that her father, Atticus, once said to her. Scout recalls, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough” (321). Since Scout and her brother, Jem, spend most of their lives making up frightening stories about their neighbor, Boo, they come to believe that he is a very sinister man. However, after meeting him, Scout understands that all of their made-up fantasies about him are very wrong. By standing in his shoes, Scout is able to see the kind and generous man that Boo truly is. If Scout had never gotten to meet Boo, she also would not have been able to become so understanding of him or have this opportunity to mature as a person. Scout's interaction with Boo also helped her to see her neighborhood from a whole different perspective. “Street lights winked down the street all the way to town. I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle” (320). This epiphany example helps to support the theme because it shows that one cannot understand a situation without learning about it, similarly to how one cannot understand a person without meeting them. In this case, when Scout is 6 years old, she feels that her neighborhood of Maycomb is very slow-paced and boring. However, after becoming more in touch with her neighborhood and neighbors, such as Boo, she begins to recognize the good in her town, such as all of the happy memories she has made there. This is also significant because it shows that Scout is growing up and is finally able to look at the world from another person's perspective. 

The second literary element that Lee uses to contribute to the theme is flashback. One example of this is after Scout walks Boo Radley home, she looks back on all of the kind things that he did for her family. Scout remembers, “Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives” (320). This flashback helps to show how much Scout has grown in terms of understanding Boo Radley. Earlier in the novel, Scout and Jem are terrified of the Radley property and will barely go near it. As time goes on, they begin to venture closer to the property. Eventually, they both discover small gifts, such as pieces of gum and pennies, that are being left in an oak tree on the Radley’s front lawn. At first, they are unsure as to where these items are coming from however, after meeting Boo, Scout comes to realize that these gifts were placed there by him. Scout being able to finally recognize this kind act by Boo, helps to show how she has come to mature over time. It also connects to the theme since Scout wouldn’t have been able to recognize this if she had never met Boo. Another flashback that correlates with the theme is when Scout thinks about how Boo saved her and her brother's lives earlier that day. When recalling this memory, Scout refers to herself and Jem as if they were the children of Boo. She reminisces, “Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him” (321). This shows that Scout now recognizes how Boo has been watching over them and is willing to protect them if anything goes wrong. This example relates to the theme because without meeting Boo, Scout would never have been able to realize this. This also displays how much Scout develops throughout the novel. Since Scout was initially terrified of Boo, the fact that she is now looking up to him as a parental figure conveys how much she has grown after meeting him. 

In this scene of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses the literary elements, epiphany and flashback to convey the theme that one can never truly understand a person without getting to know them first. So the next time you meet someone and start judging, try to remember that there might be more to them than you think.