Harper Lee utilizes a range of language designs to establish the distinct traits of the characters she creates. The several forms of diction and dialect employed all through the novel To Kill a Mockingbird support accentuate the realism of the characters to the reader.
The story takes place in a modest town in Maycomb county, Alabama, so it is not surprising that siblings, Scout and Jem, and their pal Dill all speak with a southern accent. In a conversation involving the three of them in Chapter 1, the southern dialect is rather evident. Jem, who is meeting Dill for the initially time says, “Shoot, no wonder, then. Scout yonder’s been readin’ ever due to the fact she was born, and she ain’t even began to school however. You appear correct puny for goin’ on seven.” The use of the words ain’t, and yonder give the reader a far more realistic feeling of becoming in the south. If the characters spoke with suitable English, the reader would have a tough time believing that these young children live in a compact southern town. Devoid of even being told that the story takes place in the south, the reader can figure it out just by the dialect alone.
In the similar conversation, Jem makes fun of Dill’s name. Dill then replies, “ ‘s not any funnier’n yours.” When the text is study, the improper contractions enable the reader hear the character’s voice. The written-out southern dialect aids the reader to not only read the dialogue, but also speak it as if it had been the character. In carrying out so, the character comes alive by way of the words, and the reader can sense that.
The author also utilizes diction throughout the story. The distinct vocabularies every of the characters have can tell the reader many factors about that particular person. For instance, in chapter three, Burris Ewell yells to the teacher, “Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’! You ain’t makin’ me go nowhere missus. You just recall that, you ain’t makin’ me go nowhere!” From this quote alone, the reader may possibly get the impression that Burris is uneducated. The use of the words slut and snot-nosed inform the reader that the character naturally doesn’t have a fantastic vocabulary. If it had been written, “no conceited and unchaste school teacher is forcing me to proceed anywhere,” the reader would’ve gotten a entirely distinct impression of the character. Burris, in reality,…