First Impressions

For me I was unsure what to expect as we first began to read To Kill a Mockingbird, though I knew some background about the events leading up to the time in which the story was set. To begin at the beginning, we first come to learn about Scout, the narrator, Jem, her brother, and Atticus their father. From reading the book, I first believed Scout to be a boy and much older, around my own age, for she writes incredibly sophisticatedly. On upon first meeting Jem I see him as a taunting and teasing older brother to Scout on the outside, but in fact he is very protective and caring underneath, which is revealed further as we delve deeper into the book, especially in chapter 6, when they break into the Radley’s yard and Jem tells Scout to run, whilst he himself is not yet out of the fence.

My first impression of Atticus was that he was an uncaring father, from Scout’s description of his ‘satisfactory’ parenting and how he does not seem to put a stop to any of the children’s irresponsible behaviour, but then we see further into the book that he certainly does draw a line, especially where the Radleys are concerned. According to Scout, Atticus is somehow related or involved with everyone in Maycomb, leading us to believe in a way that he is very old, but more certainly that his family has lived in Maycomb for generations.

Upon first meeting Dill, I found him a very inquisitive and curious individual, and I had a feeling that him, Scout and Jem would only work well as a threesome for a short time. Dill seemed to bring out the worst in Jem, as he begins to reject Scout under Dill's influence. In all their adventures, Dill seemed to be the instigator, the one who got the others in trouble with Atticus, as he just went home to Miss Stephanie Crawford.