How does Harper Lee use Scout as a character and as a narrator to interest the reader?
In this essay, I will attempt to explain how Scout is used as a narrator telling the story and as a character, experiencing the story. As a reader, I will show how this technique use by Harper Lee influences us to feel certain emotions.
The first thing we notice when we look at Scout is that she is an adult telling her story through a child’s point of view. This means she uses language that is very advanced, and she is able to explain what she sees in a more detailed way, whereas if it were the young Scout telling the story, the language might be more childish, and the reader would not be able to picture the story so clearly. However, although it is the adult Scout retelling her story, she does not give everything away. This interests the reader into guessing for themselves what the story is, and what is happening, which makes it a better book because the reader has to use their own imagination. For example, in Chapter 28, when Scout and Jem are being attacked by an unknown person, the narrator does not give everything away by telling us who this person, whose name we find out later, actually is. This gives the chapter a sense of mystery, and keeps the reader hooked. She lives in the moment, and so does the reader.
