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Essays on Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird
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Harriet Beecher Stowe once said, “Women are the real architects of society.” In the story ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, We see the impact these wonderful and powerful, women have on Scout but not just Scout but also society in general.
In this story woman on multiple occasions are put down for being females. "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day!" With that, I had no option but to join them.” (Page 53). People associate woman with ‘wimps’ and ‘chickens.’ This story shows women in a different light. Mrs. Dubose is a horrible woman who yells at Scout and picks at her. Later on in the story, Jem, Scout’s brother got so fed up with this old woman he destroyed her flowers.
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Ms.Dubose was addicted to morphine and her goal before she died was that she would no longer be taking it. Jem didn't know this until his father Atticus informed him.”Mrs. Dubose was a morphine addict,” said Atticus. “She took it as a pain-killer for years. The doctor put her on it. She’d have spent the rest of her life on it and died without so much agony, but she was too contrary—”(Page 114) This shows that it takes a strong woman to do something so painful.
Calpurnia took the children under her wing. She seemed to be the mother figure to Scout. She takes pride in her children this is shown later in the story "Calpurnia bent down and kissed me. I ran along, wondering what had come over her. She had wanted to make up with me, that was it. She had always been too hard on me, she had at last seen the error of her fractious ways, she was sorry and too stubborn to say so." (Page 29). All mothers and daughters fight. Calpurnia always teaches her things and leads her in the right direction. Later on, we see Calpurnia, and Scout gets along a lot better than
Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on the maturation of a brother and sister in the "tired old town(Lee 3)" of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930ís. Maycomb, a classic southern town full of gossip, tradition and burdened with a legacy of racism, seems a strange place to stage a drama which encourages equal treatment and non prejudice. However, the narratorís fresh outlook on the sleepy town furnishes the reader with a multitude of viewpoints on civil rights. The traditional Southern racism of Maycomb is looked at through the eyes of our young narrator, Scout Finch. Scoutís innocent perspective compels her to ask questions about why whites treat blacks the way they do. These questions are crucial in Scoutís search for her own identity. Scout must come to terms with the racism of her town and how it affects the people in her life. She must find her own position and what role she will play in the whole racial game. A number of people greatly influence Scout. The two major role models in her life, her Aunt Alexandria and her father Atticus, pull Scout in two opposing directions. Through their dealings with Calpurnia, the Finch's black housekeeper, both the reader and Scout are able to distinguish what path each individual wants Scout to follow.
4. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee displays the main character Scout as a tomboy, however her Aunt Alexandra wants to teach Scout what it is like to be more elegant and ladylike, this is portrayed back in chapter nine when the following is said, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of [her] attire. [She] could not possibly hope to be a lady if [she] wore breeches... She said [she] wasn’t supposed to be doing things that require pants.” (Page 108) This demonstrates that she would like Scout to be perceived more as a lady than she is now since Atticus has been raising Scout and letting her do whatever she would like and mainly is brought up just around boys with the exception of Calpurnia. In the novel the main character,
In the 1930s, it was expected to have certain male and female roles. Stereotypically speaking, women were expected to take care of children, wear ladylike clothes, and stay at home and maintain the house. Scout wears clothes that are closely related to those of young boys. “I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing anything that required pants” (Lee 81). Instead of following a woman’s attire, Scout decides to be a woman that wears pants, and makes her own decisions. She chooses to show courage to stand up against social standards by not wearing a dress all the time, and by displaying a very boy like personality. Likewise, Scout defends her older brother Jem as an unknown man attacks them. Women are usually expected to be helpless in such a situation, yet scout uses courage and breaks stereotypes. “He yanked Jem nearly off his feet. ‘ Don’t you touch him!’ I kicked the man swiftly” (Lee 152). Scout is not afraid to attack someone that towers over her, and uses courage to break stereotypes about women. Scout uses her tough personality to prove that girls are more than just characters that stay helpless in a delicate dress, but individuals that are capable of great things. Moreover, Calpurnia, Scout’s respectable cook, sets a good example for Scout and uses courage to show her this. Scout
In Harper Lee's novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" the idea of gender prejudice has occurred repeatedly throughout the book, but it was focussed on one specific person, Scout Finch. Scout is the narrator and main protagonist of the novel. She is an interesting character with an equally interesting personality, which is greatly affected by the opinion of her older brother Jem Finch. Jem is shown to be very discriminatory against the idea of someone being a "girl". He often uses it to attack Scout for not doing as he says or having his opinion such as when Scout waa reluctant to go Boo Radley's house and was trying to stop Dill and Jem from going Jem responded with “Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home – I declare you're
Dubose also played a huge role. While reading the novel, it is clear that Atticus wants Jem to read to Mrs. Dubose for him to further understand the meaning of true courage. Deeper in the book, Atticus states that Jem reading to Mrs. Dubose was beneficial to her because it was a way for her to fight her morphine addiction. Atticus said, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. Mrs. Dubose won, all ninety-eight pounds of her. According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (Lee 149). This not being in the movie did not allow us to see Jem’s growth and understanding as a young boy. It also taught him to take account for his actions and had a role in his maturity
Many characters have to deal with and struggle with their own moral development and are brought to make many decisions that determine who they are; and one of the major element that influences this is their perception between their left and right. A perfect example of such development taking action in a positive way is through Scout and Jem Finch. According to Kathryn Lee Seidel, the “most influential in her development is her father, Atticus, who counters southern dicta for southern children with a philosophy of calm courage and rational strength” (Seidel 78). Atticus is clear in using his “left” in his decision making and his moral consciousness. Not only does Atticus show this in his actions, but in his directions. During the scene in which a rabid dog comes and terrorizes the town, Atticus is told that his shot at the dog was, “a little to the right” (Lee
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. You know Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was misperceived at first. All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names, but after he led Santa’s sleigh, they loved him. Misperceptions like this happen all throughout Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. As you read the novel you see original judgments made about characters transform into new conceptions and new understandings. Some characters twist your views of them on purpose, others do it involuntarily. To Kill a Mockingbird shows this happening over and over again. All you have to do is look for it.
Early on in the book, Scout is introduced as a tomboy with little disrespect. A good example of the amount of disrespect she has for people is when Walter Cunningham is invited over for dinner. She says that “[Walter] ain’t [sic]
Society leads to conform and people who choose not to conform appear as outcasts. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by harper lee, the idea of conformity is understood by the town of maycomb. Scout, a tomboy who is by maycomb because of her view of society, is misunderstood in her personality and independent ideas. Scout changes throughout the story, growing to recognize that Maycomb is a corrupt society and how the values of a conformist community negatively affect its people.
... President. Yes, only 16.8% of large law-firm partners are women, only one out of seven engineering students is female, and only 4.4% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Yes, women still make 77 cents for every man’s dollar. Yes, we still have countless issues regarding women’s rights that are debated and discussed every day, such as equal pay, abortion rights, maternity leave, and abuse (which ties into another aspect of this novel). However, this country has made a lot of progress since towns and cities everywhere were run solely by men. It has grown since Scout and Jem learned that women weren’t allowed to be on juries. The people, the law, and the viewpoints of many have expanded and become more inclusive. Perhaps, Scout decided to take her future into her own hands, became an outspoken, strong woman, and wasn’t afraid to break a few of her hometown’s glass ceilings.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird the theme is that people shouldn’t be sexist. The readers learn that women get set apart because of natural occurrences. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is talking about her day when she says “They put women out in the huts when their time came” (Lee 305). When saying that women had to leave the house when it was their time of the month is disrespectful to women. Men didn’t have to leave the house (Unless they had an outhouse) to take care of their natural occurrences and especially didn’t get sent away for it so, women shouldn’t have been sent away just because they were menstruating. The readers also will learn that the only way for women to get far in life was by being proper. When Miss Maudie is talking
Gender bias is very common in the corporate world. Throughout history, males have been dominant in the workforce, whereas women have been excluded. Currently, only 4.6 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, women rarely even work outside of the house. In this novel, Harper Lee shows the differences between the roles of males and females, specifically the distinctions between occupations and social values in the 1930s.
They go often play outside and do a lot of “not lady like” things. Jem and Scout’s aunt, Aunt Alexandria, does not like how Scout acts and expects her to behave like a lady. Scout expresses annoyed, "I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants. Aunt Alexandra's vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born” (Lee 108). This is one of many examples of the expectations put on Scout, as a female, to act quite, feminine, and not do too crazy. The author explains how there were many standards for Southern white women expecting them to be idle, well-mannered, and skilled in the way of hospitality regardless of their social standings. (“Overview: To Kill a Mockingbird”). On a different note they describe how a women was to be viewed in public. They note, “Still, the impression persisted that white Southern ladies had no interest or place in the sullying men’s world of politics. Many people continued to feel that church clubs were the venue best suited to women's activities outside of the household” (“Overview: To Kill a Mockingbird”). In conclusion, the gender roles and discrimination during the 1930’s-1960’s is clearly
In most countries, women only earn between 60 and 75% of men’s wages, for the same work. Sexism is still a problem in today’s society, but it has improved since Scout’s generation in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Scout believes from an early age that girls aren’t good, and that she can avoid the judgement that comes with being a girl by not acting like one. Being a girl for Scout is less a matter of what she's born with and more a matter of what she does. Scout’s elders influence her perception of womanhood by putting preconceived sexist views in her head. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows the reader how all women are expected to act lady like and be proper through the actions of Mrs. Dubose, Jem, and Atticus.
Scout is one of the characters in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, who challenged the 1930’s society. Scout is a young girl, who is entering the world where society is harsh and manipulative specially in the 1930’s. Scout lost her mother a few years after she was born; therefore she didn't have a “socially acceptable” role model to follow in the eyes of her society. Scout was allowed to wear overalls, although overalls were not correct clothing for her gender. Scout wondered if wearing “boy-clothes” was bad by questioning “It had something to do with my going around in overalls” (Lee 108). She was mortifying herself by having all those thoughts of whether or not she was doing the right thing, even though she had no idea what was really expected of her. Atticus was another character who challenged society by doing what was right; however his social circle didn't think of his