How Does Harper Lee Use Flashbacks In To Kill A Mockingbird

A child is not born with a perspective on concepts like racism, he is given one. In the 1930’s, towns were very prejudice and Maycomb county in Alabama is no exception. Harper Lee and her novel To Kill a Mockingbird uses the characters Jem and Scout as a way to display lessons for the reader to latch on to. On pages, 373-376 Harper Lee uses imagery, symbolism, and flashbacks to illustrate how the lessons help shape Scout’s perspective and transform her into a young adult.

Harper Lee intertwines imagery in her book to depict the lessons Scout is learning. Harper Lee paints a clear picture of what Scout’s street looks like from Boo Radley’s porch, “I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle” (pg.373). This expresses that the way Scout sees the world is evolving, with this evolution Scout learns that viewing the world through the eyes of someone else can lead to one better understanding the world for themselves. “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.” (pg.374) This new level of comprehension indicates that Scout

“It was still summertime, and the children came closer.”...“Winter and his children shivered at the front gate,”...“Autumn again, and Boo’s children needed him”(pg.374). This reflection on the past is a means to display how Scout’s perception develops through the situations she is placed in. This is a coming of age moment because Scout can now decipher the events that took place and the lessons that came with those events. Her new level of understanding exhibits how she can now use the lesson found within the events to compose new views and opinions on the people of Maycomb. Scout then use the lessons she has been taught to unearth the true face of Maycomb County, this emphasizes that she has begun to see the world as an