Child Narration in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”

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Published: Jun 27, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14500/kujhss.v3n1y2020.pp150-155
Keywords:
Child Narration, Harper Lee, Narrative Techniques, Point of View, Racism Child Narration, Harper Lee, Narrative Techniques, Point of View, Racism

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Mushtaq A. Mohammed
Department of English, College of Arts, Al-Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8629-3849
May H. Abd Alhadi
AL-Mutamizat Secondary School for Girls, Baghdad Directorate of Education, Baghdad, Iraq
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4909-7849

Abstract

Children's stories have a significant role in American literature. Such a role is regarded as both instructive and entertaining. A child narration, to Harper Lee (1926–2016), the American novelist, reveals some hidden messages about how a child can develop and can succeed to conform to society. A narrator, to her, could or could not be a character in the events. If a child narrates the events of a novel, he/she will definitely simplify the topics he/she narrates. Hence, Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird portrays a world that is exotic to the reader. The present paper aims to explore how the novel introduces the struggles and the disadvantages of Western society through a child’s narration, which includes the point of view and language. It also tackles how the capacity of childhood innocence shows people’ behavior clearly. This study tries to find some answers to the following questions: Why did Lee use child narration? What is the aim of using first-person narration? Was the narrator successful in reflecting the truth of events as adults did? The paper also aims at shedding light on the western problems through the child’s eyes. It attempts through child narration to expose people’s deceptive appearances, racism, and class distinction.

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How to Cite
Mohammed, M. A. and Abd Alhadi, M. H. (2020) “Child Narration in Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’”, Koya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), pp. 150-155. doi: 10.14500/kujhss.v3n1y2020.pp150-155.
Issue
Vol. 3 No. 1 (2020): Issue Four
Section
Articles
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Author Biographies

Mushtaq A. Mohammed, Department of English, College of Arts, Al-Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq

Mushtaq A. Mohammed, is an assistant instructor at Department of English, College of Arts, Al-Iraqia University. He holds a B.A. in English language (Literature) from Al-Turath University College in 2004 and M.A. in English Literature (American Fiction) from College of Education for Humanities (Ibn Rushd), University of Baghdad, in 2012. He is a member of the Iraqi Academics Syndicate and of Iraqi Translators Association, a member of F.I.T., as a legal translator since 2010. He has been teaching literature for more than six years now. He has published six papers in different genres of literature. Doing research on the postmodern American novel is his major interest.

May H. Abd Alhadi, AL-Mutamizat Secondary School for Girls, Baghdad Directorate of Education, Baghdad, Iraq

May H. Abdulhadi. she is working as a teacher of French Language at AL-Mutamizat Secondary School for Girls in Baghdad for more than 20 years. She holds a B.A. in English Literature from Department of English, College of Arts, Al-Iraqia University, in 2019, and a B.A. in French Language and Literature from Department of French, College of Languages, Baghdad University in 1992. Administrative and leading features at the school are among the issues that attract shes attention. She also good at translation from English into French and vice versa. She’s interest is to do research on literature from time to time.

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