Gender Roles In To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is known a southern gothic novel. This novel is categorized as such because the text contains characteristics of this literary style; such as, grotesque situations and sinister events, disturbing or eccentric characters, and ambivalent gender roles. All these characteristics help with the flow of the story. Like in To Kill A Mockingbird, in The Book of Daniel by author E.L. Doctorow, through the usage of postmodern writing, he tells the story. We can categorize this novel The Book of Daniel as a postmodern work of literature, within the novel we find evidence of pastiche, hyper reality and fragmentation; all of these which make the novel a postmodern text. All of which set the tone of the story being told to the audience.
Harper Lee chose to write her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, using the southern

The most obvious character that can be considered to have ambivalent gender in To Kill A Mockingbird is Scout. A person with an ambivalent gender, is one that does not conform or acts the way their gender should, in fact the behave quite the opposite. Scout is the perfect portrayal of such characteristic, because she does not act like a girl should, she acts more like her brother, a boy. “Let’s role in the tire,” (Lee. 48) Scout prefers to be out playing with the boys, Jem and Dill, rather than behaving like a girl and maybe helping with chores or playing with dolls inside. Another character that has poses as a character with an ambivalent gender is Dill. When he first is presented to us, he is portrayed as effeminate. “He wore blue linen shorts that buttoned up to his shirt…he was a year my senior but I towered over him…” (Lee. 9) He is opposite of what a boy should be for his age, he is 7 and appears to be 7. Even Scout who is 6 looks older than him, he doesn’t look or act as though as a boy