How Does Lee Use Feminism In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The book To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee elaborates on Feminism. Based on the idea feminism, there are several instances where Lee shows someone changing their opinion or actions to satisfy someone. Nelle Harper Lee was born in 1920's and related herself to the central character of the book, Scout. She had experienced many horrors in where she had to question what was right and what was wrong and she put in all of her experiences into a book which won the Pulitzer Prize. An examination of Feminism and a touch of Classism, in To Kill a Mockingbird, revealed that no matter the class or gender, people have strived to change themselves to satisfy others, for the good of many, or to prove themselves to others and this can be proven through …show more content…

"oh yes, you mean why do I pretend? Well, it’s very simple,” he said. “Some folks don’t—like the way I live. Now I could say the hell with ‘em, I don’t care if they don’t like it. I do say I don’t care if they don’t like it, right enough— but I don’t say the hell with ’em, see?.... I try to give ‘em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. .... I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live.” (Lee 268) Dolphus Raymond is a white man who lives away from everyone else because of his interest in a black woman. Even though he is not a drunkard, he has to downsize himself. He can let the people think he his alcoholic and that's what affects his choices since a white man isn't allowed to marry a black woman. Another example is when Jem gets yelled at her Aunt about being a lady. "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." (Lee 108) Scout is a full-on tomboy and she's never seen herself as a girl. But, Aunt Alexandra wants to teach Scout how to be a lady is genuinely embarrassed by the way Scout dresses and acts. She thinks the reason Scout acts the way she does is because of the influence of …show more content…

One example of this is when Jem goes out of his way so he can impress Dill. “You’re too scared even to put your big toe in the front yard.” Jem said he reckoned he wasn’t, he’d passed the Radley Place every school day of his life... I hope you’ve got it through your head that he’ll kill us each and every one, Dill Harris,” said Jem, when we joined him. “Don’t blame me when he gouges your eyes out. You started it, remember.... you’re still scared... Jem had his little sister to think of.... I knew he was afraid." (Lee 17-18) Jem was scared to touch the Radley House and kept making excuses. But, he doesn't want to be accused of being a coward by Dill, so he goes out of his way and does the dare anyway to show that he truly is not a coward. A different example where someone had to change so they could prove themselves to be different than what others think. "Scout, I'm telling you for the last time, shut your trap or go home- I declare to the lord you're getting more like a girl every day" (Lee 69) Even though Scout is a girl, he has to act like a boy so her brother Jem can accept her. Scout was basically telling Jem to be careful when he was doing something he wasn't supposed to do but, the plan backfired and she got yelled at instead. So, to impress her brother, she did as she was told and acted like she was told. People have to change the way they act around someone so, the people can

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