Excerpt from Term Paper:

...... Lee blends the theme of racism throughout the novel, although there are other themes, as well. Early in the book she writes, "One time Atticus said you never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them" (Lee 79). Scout is beginning to understand the undercurrents of tension that run through her small town, and her father attempts to make her more aware of people in general, not stereotyped by color or religion or background. Using Scout to narrate the novel in the first person gives the innocent perspective of a child witnessing life-changing events, which makes the novel more powerful and disturbing at the same time (Shackelford). Many people in the South simple accepted bigotry and prejudice as factors of everyday life. Seen from a child's perspective, they seem even more disturbing and coarse, out of proportion to events and actual people
Setting the book in the 1930s gives Lee much more flexibility in creating stereotypical characters for her novel. Bigotry was accepted, even expected in the South during the time, and that continued throughout the area until the Civil Rights fights of the 1960s. Another critic notes, "In the time period

Need this essay? If it's not quite what you're looking for there are over 50,000 more to search from, so you can find the term paper or essay that meets your needs.