Maycomb better, thereby getting herself in trouble:

Miss Caroline stood stock still, then grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back to her desk. "Jean Louse, I've had about enough of you this morning," she said. "You're starting off on the wrong foot in every way, my dear. Hold out your hand."

I thought she was going to spit in it, which was the only reason anybody in Maycomb held out his hand: it was a time-honored method of sealing oral contracts. Wondering what bargain we had made, I turned to the class for an answer, but the class looked back at me in puzzlement. Miss Caroline picked up her ruler, gave me a half dozen quick little pats, then told me to stand in the corner. A storm of laughter broke loose when it finally occurred to the class that Miss Caroline had whipped me.

Scout's reliability is important when she explains the events of the trial. She provides an unbiased testimony about the evidence and about how the townspeople treat Tom. Where a voice like Miss Stephanie might provide ongoing and biased commentary, Scout's voice is earnest and even confused over the events. And that is one of the great points of the story; there is no sound reason to convict Tom, and this is a troubling and unexplainable injustice. Scout's voice mirrors any voice of human compassion as she tries to process Tom's conviction and then death.

By choosing the voice of an unbiased child, Harper Lee helps readers reflect on the inner parts of themselves that are free of the biases acquired in later life. This voice of innocence is the voice that each of us can use to encourage the innocents in our own societies.

Scout's narration of To Kill a Mockingbird means that the reader understands the events and the consequences of the novel through the filter of an adult's memory of being a child. While there are advantages to this approach to narration, there are also drawbacks. Both the advantages and the drawbacks have to do with Scout's youth at the time of the major events of the novel.

When the novel begins, Scout is not quite six years old. There is a widely-held belief that children, lacking an adult's foresight and depth, will often speak the truth no matter the consequences. So if Mark Twain was right when he famously said, "Only children and fools tell the truth," then the reader will receive an honest explanation of what happened thanks to Scout's inevitable immature honesty. As well, children have an uncanny instinct for sniffing out fair situations from unfair ones; if Scout describes a situation as unfair, the reader can accept that it probably was indeed unjust or inequitable.

Because Scout is so young when the events of the novel unfold, however, her childish and simple ways of looking at the world are limited in their scope and depth. As well, that Scout is recalling the events as an adult looking back on her childhood means that the adult Scout is filling in blanks left by the unreliability of long-ago memories. This means that in some situations, Scout's adult retelling may not be entirely accurate.

One obvious advantage is that Scout is either a major participant in the action or she is present for much of the action so the reader is receiving an eye witness account.  Also, the novel has two perspectives both coming from Scout - during the time of the novel, Scout is six years old so we get an innocent child's perspective, but it is written from Scout's perspective as an adult so the story also has an element of reflection.  Scout also provides a vehicle for the author to express views about racism and society without directly stating the views.  Readers will more readily accept and contemplate the thoughts of an innocent child rather than the opinions of an adult narrator.

The major disadvantage is that the reader does not know everything because the story is limited in the first person and limited because it is a child's perspective.

The story is told from the point of view of Scout, a young, innocent child.  We see the action through her eyes.  She is completely without prejudice, unlike many of the adult characters in the novel.  Scout sees the good qualities in all people, no matter what their skin color.  She is curious and this quality allows the author to reveal much about the main characters, as well as the plot and the resolution of the conflicts in the novel.

The novel is told from a child's perspective. Children are a model of innocence, therefore, using Scout's voice calls much stronger attention to the character defects of the adults involved.  The world must therefore be explained through Scout in clear terms.  Most of the time, Scout's young age and ignorance point out serious flaws in the other Maycomb residents.  Her voice  also showcases Atticus's heroic qualities, Calpurnia's strength, Jem's loyalty, Dill's imagination, Boo Radley's mysteriousness, Tom Robinson's innocence, and the racist men's hatred.