The Beginning

The opening chapters of the book are mainly introductory. The book starts with a brief history of the Finch family and then moves on to describe the neighbourhood and the kind of people who live there.

The writing style is similar to that used in many other books of the time, however it is written from the point of view of a six year old girl. Although, to contrast with this, the language used is very sophisticated and would not be used by a young child, this is good as the topic of the book is also very serious and sophisticated, so even though it is from the view of a six year old it still fits the book.
On the other hand, i don't feel the story is developing very much, there have only been subtle hints towards things that could be happening, mainly focused around 'Boo Radley' and the Radley houshold, however nothing major has happened.
I find the development of Jem the most interesting, as he starts off simply as Scout's older brother, however throughout the first chapters he seems to become more mature and quite protective of his younger sister, he also seems more serious and less interested in having fun and more focused on what is happening. His relationship with Atticus is quite unusual as well, it is more formal than expected, Atticus is never thought of as 'dad' by either Scout or Jem. Additionally he doesn't seem to properly fulfill the role of a father, he seems to only have one personality, and that is as a lawyer.
Overall, Maycomb seems like a very close community as everyone knows each other, even if there is no contact between them. For example everyone knows that the Cunninghams have no money, and that Burris Ewell only ever goes to school for the first day of the year. Additionally, the idea that the Radleys not going to church is alien to Maycomb suggests that there are traditions of the area, and that everyone should know that.