To Kill A Mockingbird Cross Character Analysis Essay

To Kill a Mockingbird is told from the perspective of Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch, a young girl of Maycomb County. As Scout grows older, she witnesses or is subjected to the harsh realities of life: racism, prejudice, small-mindedness, traditional gender roles and expectations, social hierarchy and the coexistence of good and evil. First-person narration is a technique that effectively enhances how the reader, through Scout’s eyes, learns about those realities. “‘Your father does not know how to teach. You can have a seat now.’ I mumbled that I was sorry and retired mediating upon my crime.” (p.17) is the first example of Scout encountering small-mindedness in the novel. In the quote, Scout’s first-grade teacher makes Scout feel guilty about being able to read and write, causing her to apologise and think of it as a crime. Her reaction of shame is instantly expressed to the reader as it is a first-person perspective. Therefore, it conveys how the exchange between the two demonstrates the the small-minded views of Maycomb citizens, especially considering that Scout should be proud of being taught vital abilities at a young age.

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Similar to the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cross is told from a first-person perspective, in this case, from an unknown narrator of white and black ethnicity. The first-person narration allows the speaker to express his or her frustration of not belonging to a specific race in a simple yet meaningful way. For example, the closing lines “I wonder where I’m going to die, Being neither white nor black?” show how the writer is confused about whether to live a white man’s life or a black man’s.

- Elaborate on how it affects the