This is one of the most famous and most quoted lines in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. Atticus speaks these famous words to Scout after her first day of school. Scout has a terrible first day—she starts off "on the wrong foot in every way" with her teacher and ends up being publicly punished in front of her entire class. Scout finds this incredibly unjust, as she feels she did nothing wrong.

Scout clearly wants her father to join her in condemning Miss Caroline, who Scout feels treated her terribly for no reason at all. Instead, Atticus tells Scout to consider things from Miss Caroline's perspective.

This quote introduces the values Atticus espouses throughout the rest of the novel. Atticus is a firm believer in the Golden Rule. Whether it be toward Boo Radley, or Tom Robinson, or even Mayella Ewell, Atticus teaches his children to treat others the way they wish to be treated. Atticus urges Scout and Jem to try to view the world from others' points of view, just as he tells Scout to "walk around" in Miss Caroline's "skin" after her tough first day of school. This philosophy of empathy and grace is one of Atticus Finch's most celebrated traits.

Scout feels as if she has committed a crime on the first day of school because Miss Caroline discovers that she can read and write. After informing Scout that Atticus should stop teaching her, Miss Caroline says that she will "try to undo the damage." In addition, Scout attempts to intervene on behalf of Walter Cunningham when Miss Caroline offers him lunch money. Scout offers an explanation of why Walter will not accept the money when she says, "Miss Caroline, he’s a Cunningham." Scout only succeeds in frustrating Miss Caroline and is punished as a result.

Later at home, Scout voices her frustrations to Atticus. It is in response to her that Atticus says, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Atticus is helping Scout to see things from another person's perspective. In this case, he hopes Scout is able to understand that Miss Caroline is new to Maycomb County and in time, she'll get to understand its inhabitants more effectively.

The words of wisdom Atticus offers Scout apply to many different situations in Scout's life. Most notably, Scout is able to change her perspective concerning Boo Radley. By the end of the story, Scout sees Boo as a kind and generous man, and she treats him respectfully.

In chapter 3, Scout returns home from a rough first day of school and Atticus gives her an important lesson in perspective that will help Scout better understand people. Atticus then tells Scout,

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (Lee, 30)

Atticus is essentially encouraging his daughter to look at situations from another perspective. Similar to the idiom "walk a mile in someone else's shoes," Atticus's metaphor of climbing into a person's skin relays the same message of expanding one's perspective by viewing situations from another person's point of view. Interestingly, Atticus's metaphor reflects the dominant theme of race throughout the novel by referring to "skin." Atticus's memorable lesson in perspective plays an important role in Scout's moral development throughout the novel. Scout not only gains perspective but also develops empathy for others by applying this lesson to life. 

This line is one of the most important quotations in Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus delivers this bit of superlative advice to Scout after her terrible first day at school. Scout has had to deal with her raw new teacher, Miss Caroline and her ridiculous demands; she has fought with Walter Cunningham Jr.; she is then scolded by Calpurnia after her inadvertent insult to lunch guest, Walter. When she tells Atticus that she would prefer not to go back to school again, he tells her

"... that if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks."

Atticus's statement is simple. By putting yourself in another's place and trying to understand their way of thinking, you will better be able to deal with multiple points of view. Both Jem and Scout take the advice and use it later in the story.

This is plain as day. Atticus has wanted his children to look at life from Boo's perspective, from a black person's perspective, and from their peers' perspectives throughout this story.

What may be confusing here is the idea of climbing around in someone's skin. I think it would be easy to just put someone's shoes on. You would feel that the shoes were a little tight or a little loose. And you then could give the shoes back.

To walk around in someone's skin would mean adopting their life characteristics, the things they are persecuted about, praised for, expected of, and stuck with. You can't just quickly adopt someone's life traits. This would take deep analysis and consideration. Scout only ever gets this when she stands on Boo Radley's porch and imagines what it might have been like to watch her over the years.

In chapter 3, Scout is dejected after a dismal day at school. After looking forward to going to school, her teacher has turned out to be less promising than Scout had hoped, and Scout has landed herself in trouble with Miss Caroline more than once in her honest efforts to help her teacher understand the Maycomb students. Scout is especially upset that her teacher has forbidden Scout's beloved reading time with Atticus.

In this quote, Atticus tells Scout that she needs to try to understand Miss Caroline's point of view and not to judge her so quickly or harshly. He explains that instead, Scout should try to understand why Miss Caroline has acted as she did and said the things she said. For example, he tells Scout that students could not expect their new teacher to understand all of the "Maycomb ways" in one day and could not hold her accountable for things she could not have known before she began teaching there.

This is a philosophy which guides Atticus in daily life. When the Cunninghams can't pay their debt for legal services, Atticus understands and allows them to pay in other ways, such as hickory nuts. When Tom Robinson's friends fill Atticus's kitchen with food following the trial, he is moved to tears, understanding what a financial sacrifice this is during the economically difficult 1930s. And even when the despicable Bob Ewell threatens him, Atticus explains that Bob has lost a great deal as a result of the trial.

This philosophy of understanding others' views in his daily interactions makes Atticus an empathetic source of guidance for his children.

Atticus Finch teaches Scout and Jem many very valuable lessons, but none more valuable than the importance of empathy, of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. Scout and Jem are at that age where a rush to judgment is almost second nature. They judge Boo Radley as a creepy boogie-man figure; they judge Mrs. Dubose as an ornery old lady with a vicious tongue. To be fair, most adults in Maycomb share the same prejudices, but not Atticus. That's why he's in a good position to be able to teach the valuable lesson of empathy to his children.

This lesson is particularly valuable in the case of Mrs. Dubose. On the face of it, it would seem that this woman has no redeeming features whatsoever. A bad-tempered, ornery old lady who frequently yells abuse at Scout and Jem whenever they walk past her front porch, Mrs. Dubose isn't exactly someone who invites much in the way of empathy.

However, Atticus insists that Mrs. Dubose is no different from anyone else in that she can only be understood if people walk around in her shoes. Among other things, this means recognizing that Mrs. Dubose has been trying hard to free herself from the vice-like grip of morphine addiction. It's because of her valiant struggles to wean herself off this deadly narcotic that Atticus regards her as the most courageous person he's ever known.

Following Scout's rough first day of school, she laments about her bad day and Atticus gives her some advice concerning perspective. Atticus begins by telling Scout that he knows a simple trick that will help her get along better with others. Atticus then tells his daughter,

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." (30)

Atticus is essentially telling Scout that she needs to view situations from other people's perspectives, which will help her understand people better. Atticus's lesson about climbing into another person's skin is similar to the common idiom "walk a mile in someone else's shoes." Scout comprehends this and applies her father's lesson as she matures throughout the novel. Scout attempts to climb into her brother's skin following his trip back to the Radley yard at night to retrieve his pants. She also views the neighborhood from Boo Radley's perspective while she stands on his porch at the end of the novel. 

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout has had a hard time getting adjusted to the challenges of being in school. Her teacher, Miss Caroline, repeatedly misunderstands her good intentions and punishes her: first for being an exceptional reader and then for speaking up on the behalf of Walter Cunningham. The final outburst of the day occurs when Burris Ewell gets scolded by Miss Caroline for coming to school unbathed, which results in Burris unleashing an abusive tirade against the poor woman.

Thus, when Scout comes home complaining about her day and asking her father if she has to keep going to school, Atticus tells her:

[I]f you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider thing from his point of view... until you climb in his skin and walk around in it.

This advice--which suggests that Scout be more empathetic and compassionate to those around her and that she should give others the benefit of the doubt--helps her forgive what has occurred at school that day. She realizes that Miss Caroline is a new teacher who is very young and inexperienced with the customs of Maycomb; she could not be held responsible for not knowing any better on her first day of teaching. Scout also realizes that she may not take out her disapproval on Burris or any other child who falls out of the realm of the "common people." 

In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee expresses many opinions through the voice of Atticus.  With this expression, Atticus is saying that any reader cannot understand what another person is going through until you see the world through their lens or the way they look at the world.  If you "climb into his skin and walk around in it", you experience what they experience in the same way as they do because you are seeing what is happening through their lens or through their experiences in life which have shaped them into the person they are.  Truly understanding another person is far more difficult than most people believe, and this idea of walking a mile in their shoes or climbing "into his skin" makes you feel with the same feelings they do and understand being the outsider they are. 

Atticus states, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Boo Radley is Scout and Jem's neighbor. He is a shut-in who only leaves his home at night and, as such, fuels much of the town's gossip. Jem and Scout invent wild stories about Boo influenced by rumors, most notably that Boo kills the neighbor's pets.

Throughout the novel, Atticus Finch—Scout and Jem's father—is the voice of moral reasoning, endeavoring to teach his children about wrong and right and on how to be kind and empathetic individuals. Scout learns from her father's central lesson, growing in maturity and understanding for marginalized individuals like Boo. At the end of the novel, Boo asks Scout to walk him home. Scout respects Boo’s fear and protects him and his dignity by making it look as if Boo is the one who is walking her down the street. Scout learns to put herself in another person’s "skin" and comes to see Boo as a human being and not as some ghost-like, evil figure created by irrational, cruel town rumors (and fueled earlier in the novel by her childish imagination and fear).

We can all learn from Atticus' advice, especially today when things in the world appear so polarized and hostile. In order to overcome our modern day conflicts, it's important to question and challenge the occasionally baseless assumptions that we hold about other people who are different from us. Instead of jumping to conclusions and repeating the narratives that have been past down to us, we need to try and develop a better understanding about others' experiences and point of views.

Atticus states, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Scout apples Atticus's advice by learning to think about the perspective of other people as she navigates her life. She realizes that she cannot judge someone simply by considering that person based on her own experiences and perspectives. Scout begins to understand that she must, in fact, think about what life must be like from the other person's perspective and experience.

Scout applies this advice from Atticus when she considers Boo Radley at the end of the novel. She stands on his porch and visualizes the neighborhood from his point of view and appreciates him for the person that he is and the experiences he has had.

This advice can certainly be applied in all manners of situations we face in life, but particularly, this advice is potently applied when learning how to counter social conditioning that propels racial stereotypes.

Atticus states, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Scout uses Atticus's advice many times throughout the novel. For example, she uses this rule to find empathy for Mayella Ewell, an easily deplorable character, and imagines how lonely and afraid she must feel on the witness stand. After finally meeting Boo Radley, Scout literally puts herself in his position by standing on the Radley's porch and seeing the neighborhood from his viewpoint. Scout shows empathy for a number of other characters, as well, including Tom Robinson, Walter Cunningham, Jr. (who she defends at school), and Walter Cunningham, Sr (who she consoles for his "entailment.")

In our own lives, we can use this advice is an endless number of ways. Most importantly, we can imagine the perspectives of those who are different from us or disagree with us in order to fully acknowledge the humanity in all of us.

Atticus states, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus's advice to his daughter concerns perspective as he challenges her to metaphorically climb into other people's skin to fully understand their point of view before casting judgment. Scout applies her father's lesson regarding perspective several times in the novel as she matures and develops into a morally upright person. In chapter 7, Scout refrains from bothering Jem after he returns from the Radley yard. She thinks from his perspective, which allows her to sympathize with his stressful situation. Scout also applies her father's advice during the Tom Robinson trial when Mayella Ewell testifies. Scout imagines being Mayella and sympathizes with her difficult, lonely life. Following Bob Ewell's attack, Scout meets Boo Radley for the first time and walks him home. After Boo enters his home, Scout once again applies her father's lesson regarding perspective by standing on Boo's front porch and looking out at the neighborhood. Scout metaphorically climbs into Boo's skin and views the neighborhood from his unique perspective for the first time. One can apply Atticus's advice by considering another person's point of view in order to sympathize with their situation.

Atticus states, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

At the end of the novel, Scout stands on Boo Radley's porch after walking him home.  As she turns around to head back home, she stops and begins to see the neighborhood and everything that happens in it from Boo's point of view. 

She sees Jem, Dill and herself walking down the sidewalk with the fishing pole and the letter to Boo.  She sees them acting out their "play" of Boo and his family.  She sees them building a mud/snowman.  She sees the fire at Miss Maudie's house.  Most importantly, she sees how Boo views them as "his children."  When the time came and the children "needed him," he came out and saved their lives.  She repeats his advice while she's on Boo's porch, and says "standing on his porch was enough." 

As a teacher, I may disapprove of a student's clothing, thinking it's inappropriate.  However, that student may not have the money to buy something new.  The clothes may be tight because they were from a year ago and are now a size too small.  I must see the whole picture before I judge too quickly.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." How does Atticus' statement help Scout negotiate and understand the events of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout is not aware of the importance of Atticus' advice until she stands on the Radley's porch at the very end of the novel. She doesn't respond to Walter Cunningham because she is seeing things from his perspective. She is utterly unaware of what she's doing, other than being polite to grown-ups, as her father has taught her. Similarly, she shows curiosity about Calpurnia's church, and First Purchase's style of worship, but she doesn't understand the difference between her church and Calpurnia's. She can't comprehend Miss Gates's comments about "those people." And she doesn't understand why Jem and Dill are so upset at the outcome of the trial.

The power of "To Kill a Mockingbird" is that the narrator reconstructs events from her childhood, from the perspective of an adult. At the time they are happening, Scout has no clue of their significance; to her, it is only the story of how Jem's arm was broken. Jem has the maturity to interpret what he sees. All Scout does is record.

So the short answer is that Atticus's statement is of no use to her at the time. It is only in retrospect that she can put together the pieces of the story and grasp how she has, unconsciously, been affected by Atticus's advice.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." How does Atticus' statement help Scout negotiate and understand the events of the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

This advice helps Scout navigate the large and small events of the novel in the same way. Despite her pride and her temper, Atticus' advice gives her ways to slip past the prejudice all around her, to resist the anger and fear that define the community, and to identify with people that others find alien or inferior. It softens her heart, allowing her to defuse the mob scene facing down Atticus by the jail, and it allows her to realize that her perspective isn't the only one, as happens repeatedly through the novel (in Calpurnia's church, for example, or in watching the trial itself). It softens her emotion and opens her imagination, or better, gives her natural imagination a method for doing the right thing.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Please discuss this quote from To Kill a Mockingbird.

This quote comes in Chapter Three after Scout's day at school which, from her perspective, went so terribly. She begs Atticus to be taught at home by him so she won't have to go back, and the quote you have highlighted is the response that she is given by him. In a sense of course, the quote stands for a much bigger theme in the novel which points towards the way that this novel is a coming-of-age story. Through it we see how Scout and Jem are both forced to grow up through the events and conflicts that they witness and are involved in, and how they both learn to metaphorically "climb in the skin" of those around them and walk in their shoes.

Of course, Atticus is definitely right. It is so easy for us to judge and criticise others, but we need to remember that we do not always know the full picture, and to a certain extent we can never fully understand the different pressures and perspectives that others are facing and how these pressures impact them. Atticus gives Scout an excellent piece of advice that cautions us to not be too quick with our judgement until we have taken time to truly understand somebody else and their situation that we may not be aware of.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." What are eight reasons this is significant in To Kill a Mockingbird?

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view ... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.

These words of advice which Atticus gives to Scout in chapter 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird are significant for numerous reasons, including the following.

• Atticus's words adapt an expression from "Judge Softly," an 1895 poem by Mary T. Lathrap, which quickly became proverbial. The poem says that one should "walk a mile in his moccasins" before judging someone. Atticus intensifies this idea. One must know the person more intimately, by inhabiting his skin.
• The notion of "skin" is, of course, a central one in a novel about color prejudice. Neither Atticus nor Scout will ever be able to imagine themselves into the skin of the Black characters, such as Tom Robinson.
• This plea for imaginative sympathy reveals a key aspect of Atticus's character.
• However, it also reveals his limitations. Atticus is talking to his daughter but assumes the person with whom she will have to sympathize is male.
• Maycomb contains many people, such as Mrs. Dubose and Boo Radley, with whom it is initially difficult to sympathize, particularly for a child.
• Atticus says these words just after Scout has requested that she be allowed to give up school and receive her education at home. Ironically, after denying her request, Atticus proceeds to give her a dose of the home schooling at which he excels.
• These words could also be understood as a manifesto for the novel as a genre, since it aims to create realistic characters and allow the reader to imagine what it would be like to live another person's life.
• These words could be understood as a manifesto for this novel in particular, since one of its major themes is the failure of understanding and sympathy that plagues relations between the different races, classes, and genders.

Atticus says that you'll never really understand a person "until you climb into their skin and walk around in it." Is it easy for Scout to learn this?

I think that Scout eventually learns this lesson by the time the novel ends, so it has not necessarily been easy for her. She is a stubborn child. Atticus says this to her fairly early on, but it is not until she has several experiences that give her the chance to see something through the eyes of another that she really "gets it."

She learns to have more compassion for Walter Cunningham and not to judge him so harshly after he comes to lunch at her house. She learns to understand Calpurnia more when Calpurnia takes Scout and Jem to visit "her people" and Scout notices that Calpurnia talks differently when she is with them than when she working in Atticus' house.

She also learns to understand Dill more when she finally realizes why he tells tall tales. When Dill runs away and they find him hiding under the bed in their own home, she begins to understand him a little more.

She also begins to understand and appreciate Miss Maudie as the novel progresses. She admires the fact that Miss Maudie stands for what she believes. She comes to learn that Maudie is courageous.

We finally see that she has learned this lesson at the end of the novel, when Boo Radley is out on the porch. Instead of fearfully refusing to go out and greet him, like she would have at the beginning of the novel, she gently goes out and speaks to him because she has learned that he is truly a mockingbird and doing anything to harm him (like turning him in for killing Bob Ewell) would be like killing a mockingbird. This tells us that she really has learned what it is like to walk around in someone else's skin.

Was it easy for her to learn this lesson? What do you think?

Read about the novel here on enotes.

What is the effect this quote from To Kill a Mockingbird on the reader? "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Atticus tells Scout that you never really understand someone until you see things from that person’s point of view. This is because Scout has been having a hard time learning empathy. The effect of this conversation is to help the reader understand some of the characters in the book, and add to our understanding of Atticus’s personality.

When Scout goes to school, she has a difficult time. She does not understand her new teacher. The teacher does not try to get to know her students, and punishes Scout on the first day.

Scout first catches the teacher’s attention because she can read and write. Then she gets her ire up by trying to give her advice.

If I could have explained these things to Miss Caroline, I would have saved myself some inconvenience and Miss Caroline subsequent mortification, but it was beyond my ability to explain things as well as Atticus, so I said, “You’re shamin‘ him, Miss Caroline. Walter hasn’t got a quarter at home to bring you, and you can’t use any stovewood.”(Ch. 2)

Miss Caroline whips Scout with a ruler for talking too much.  This and the fact that the teacher told Scout not to read with her father caused her to not want to go to school. This is why Scout got the lecture about thinking about other people’s perspectives.

The fact that Atticus is able to explain to Scout how Miss Caroline feels helps the reader understand that Atticus is an empathetic and compassionate father. Scout is going to need the skill of empathy as well during the difficult period that will be coming with the trial of Tom Robinson. Atticus can understand how people feel, and is well-respected in the community normally. He will be able to handle the heat that comes with the trial, and he is trying to make sure his children can too.

In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch says, "You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it." How might one defend the validity of this statement by using references from history or from other works of literature?

Something extra:

Examples of empathy from history:

* Some people in Britain were able to empathize with the situatiuon of the American colonialists and thus sympathized with the American revolution.

* Many people who opposed slavery were able to empathize with the slaves and imagine themselves as slaves.  As Abraham Lincoln memorably said

"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master."

* Many men who supported the right of women to vote were able to imagine how they would feel if they were denied such a fundamental right.

* Many white supporters of the civil rights movement were able to imagine what it must be like to be a black person suffering the horrors of racism.

* Many straight people who defend the rights of gays have been able to imagine what it must be like to suffer anti-gay discrimination.

In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch says, "You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it." How might one defend the validity of this statement by using references from history or from other works of literature?

In Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch says, "You can never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it." Finch’s statement might be defended by citing various examples from history and literature, including the following:

• In the Old English epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf seems to empathize with old king Hrothgar, whose nation is terrorized by a monster. Later, when Beowulf is himself an old king whose nation is being terrorized by a monster, he finds himself, in a sense, literally walking in Hrothgar’s shoes.
• In Herman Melville’s novel Billy Budd, Billy seems to be able to empathize Captain Vere's sense that he has no choice but to execute Billy. Thus Billy goes willingly to his death proclaiming “God bles Captain Vere!”
• Near the very end of John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, Rose of Sharon, a beautiful young woman, gives birth to a stillborn child after months of personal suffering and also seeing her family and friends suffer.  Thus, when she is confronted by a man who is almost starving – a man she encounters shortly after the loss of her child, she offers him her milk-laden breasts and insists that he drink, despite his reluctance to do so:

slowly she lay down beside him. He shook his head slowly from side to side. Rose of Sharon loosened one side of the blanket and bared her breast. "You got to," she said. She squirmed closer and pulled his head close. "There!" she said. "There." Her hand moved behind his head and supported it. Her fingers moved gently in his hair. She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously.

It is precisely because Rose of Sharon has herself suffered so much and witnessed so much suffering that she knows what it must be like to be this starving man. Steinbeck’s novel is one of the great treatments of empathy (and the lack of empathy) in American literature.

• In another highly memorable example of empathy in literature, Hamlet, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, rebukes Polonius when Polonius tells the prince that he will treat some visiting actors as they deserve to be treated.  Hamlet immediately replies,

God's bodykins, man, much better! Use every man after his desert, and who should scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty.

In other words, if we think people should be treated as they deserve to be treated, then no one at all would escape whipping, since all people are sinners. Hamlet urges Polonius, instead, to treat others as Polonius himself would wish to be treated. He should treat others with honor and dignity and merit and earn honor and dignity in turn.

• In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Lear does not fully appreciate the suffering of the poor until he experiences such suffering himself:

Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, 
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm, 
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, 
Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you 
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en 
Too little care of this!

• In Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, Huck in particular learns that Jim deserves respect despite the fact that Jim is black. Huck’s realization results, in part, from having lived and suffered alongside Jim.

In to Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus tells the children that "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around it". How is this concept illustrated in the novel? 

At the beginning of the novel, Atticus teaches Scout a lesson on perspective. He advises that she metaphorically "climb into the skin of people and walk around in it" to understand their perspective. This is an important lesson throughout the novel that is essential to the moral development of Scout. As the novel progresses, Scout attempts to view situations from other people's perspectives. When Jem is acting moody the week after he retrieved his pants from the Radley yard, Scout attempts to "climb into his skin and walk around in it" by imagining how she would feel if she had gone alone into Boo's yard.

After Dill runs away from his home and explains his situation to Scout, she begins to try to understand what life would be like if Atticus and Calpurnia did not wish to have her around. This scene portrays Scout continuing to develop her perspective. Scout continues to mature and learns an important lesson following the mob scene. Atticus explains that the reason Walter Cunningham made his gang leave was because he was able to "walk in Atticus' shoes." Scout learns another valuable lesson in perspective when Atticus elaborates on how mob mentality influenced Walter.

Throughout the trial, Scout's moral development is evident when she analyzes the character of Mayella Ewell. Scout states that she feels that Mayella is the loneliest person in Maycomb, even lonelier than Boo Radley. Her ability to compare Mayella to Boo portrays her developing perspective.

In the last chapter of the novel, Scout stands on Boo Radley's porch and looks out at their neighborhood. She begins to reflect on past events and "stands in Boo's skin" to understand how he views the world. This scene is the apex of Scout's moral development in the novel. She is finally able to appreciate Boo Radley as her normal neighbor by understanding his point of view.