To Kill a Mockingbird Preface

It should be noted that the author precedes the first chapter with an epigraph by English writer Charles Lamb. It reads: “Lawyers, I suppose, were children once.”   

This appears to foreshadow a number of the book’s features. Father Atticus is an attorney, but one whose views have changed over the years. It may also hint that the observations made through the eyes of a young Scout are clearly the eyes of a child, who is destined to see the world differently as she grows. Jem also mentions his plan to become a lawyer, like his father, when he grows up, and we are witness to his evolving view of the human tendency towards unfairness, which appears to strengthen his resolve to fight injustice.