How does Scout view the people in her community in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird? How does Harper Lee's language shape our understanding of...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout demonstrates a willingness to see the good in people, like her father, but, being young, primarily sees people she doesn't understand in a negative light. However, her perspective of people improves as she grows older. One example of a person in her community who Scout views in a negative light at first is Calpurnia. Based on Scout's descriptions of Calpurnia, we can clearly tell...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout demonstrates a willingness to see the good in people, like her father, but, being young, primarily sees people she doesn't understand in a negative light. However, her perspective of people improves as she grows older.

One example of a person in her community who Scout views in a negative light at first is Calpurnia. Based on Scout's descriptions of Calpurnia, we can clearly tell that Scout dislikes Calpurnia early in the novel though Scout's sentiments change the more she gets to know Calpurnia. Scout uses the description, "She was all angles and bones," to paint Calpurnia as being dislikable and unattractive. Scout also relays that she and Calpurnia were constantly quarreling, because Calpurnia was always reprimanding Scout for not behaving as well as Jem and ordering her to do things she didn't want to do such as come home when she "wasn't ready to come" (Ch. 1). Scout further portrays just how much she dislikes Calpurnia when she states, "I had felt her tyrannical presence as long as I could remember" (Ch. 1). More importantly, Scout does not have a genuine reason for disliking Calpurnia; Scout only dislikes Calpurnia because she does not yet truly understand Calpurnia and feels Calpurnia hinders her from doing what she wants to do. Yet, as the book progresses, Scout's relationship with Calpurnia grows stronger.

Just as she dislikes Calpurnia when she is younger, Scout equally dislikes other characters in her neighborhood she doesn't understand such as her first-grade teacher, Miss Caroline, who reprimanded Scout on her first-day of school for being a smart aleck; Arthur (Boo) Radley, whom she is afraid of due to rumors and myths; and Mrs. Dubose, who antagonizes Scout and her brother each time they pass Mrs. Dubose's house. Yet, as Scout matures, she learns acceptance and appreciation, lessons that change her perspective of other people.