To Kill A Mockingbird Narrative Voice Essay

699 Words3 Pages
To be able to understand and expand the story of a novel of any sort, the viewer must first be aware and be able to identify the impact of narrative voice. In relation with the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”, it can become confusing for the audience as there are in total three main voices which the narrative is told in. These voices consist of Scout (First-person, one of the main protagonists), Jean Louise (Scout when she is older, from the perspective of her future-self) and Harper Lee (the author of the novel). The story is told by Scout as an adult looking back. In different voices, ages and times through the novel, the narrative can be portrayed as distorted and unclear. This links to the hesitation of clarification of what voice the novel…show more content…
These factors are all set to try and engage the reader with the story. This could be through emotional, political or opinionated influences. For example, on page 265 (chapter 26) it was stated " Mr. Underwood didn’t talk about miscarriages of justice, he was writing so children could understand. Mr. Underwood simply figured it was a sin to kill cripples, be they standing, sitting, or escaping”. As a 7-8 year old, using words such as “miscarriages” and referring to the events with “was” or “then”, it can be identified that Scout is not telling the story at this time and her older self (Jean Louise). If the reader is not able to see these small factors, it can be confusing. This is why it is important to be aware for all possible narrative voices within the text. When Scout is talking, she would use inclusive language such as “we” and “I”. On page 79, Scout states "Well if we came out durin' the Old Testament it's too long ago to matter”. Using “we” shows the inclusive nature and that she was there at that time
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