Women In To Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee

In many societies, women can be seen as inferior to men as some believe women symbolize weakness and vulnerability. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, portrays the child narrator, Scout Finch, as a bullheaded tomboy who is the daughter of a lawyer defending Tom Robinson, a black man, who was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman, in the 1930’s. Scout’s hardships are shown throughout her life, and without a mother figure she is left clueless on how to be a proper lady during these difficult times. Her Aunt Alexandra later becomes Scout’s necessary mother figure. Harper Lee uses Scout’s female perspective, Aunt Alexandra’s guidance, and the ideology that women should follow the etiquette of being a proper woman

We can see her struggle to feel equal to her male counterparts through her brother’s presences in the novel. Scout’s brother, Jem, desires to get a look at the mysterious Boo Radley, the boy who was never seen again for fifteen years; Scout fears Jem might get hurt and pleads Jem not to go, and Jem states, “Scout, I’m tellin’ you…shut your trap or go home-I declare to the Lord you’re getting’ more like a girl everyday” (Lee 42). Jem’s quote undoubtedly expresses that acting like a girl portrays that Scout is being weak. The quotes help highlight the insufficiency of strength women can truly possess in a situation, however many wish to disregard this strength, thus leading to the shortage of civil rights to

The idea that a woman must be proper shows the historically accurate gender role that existed in the 1930’s. A woman had to wear a dress or she wasn’t considered a proper woman. Stephanie Crawford communicates with Scout and states”…you won’t get very far until you start wearing dresses more often” (Lee 196). Stephanie provides the argument that women must wear dresses to follow proper etiquette. Not only was wearing dresses was important, but careers played an immense part of the gender role, where men went to work and women stayed home. The thought of a woman not being in the house and providing a day’s meal was frowned upon. Atticus, whom is an exceptional gentleman, states, “…Mrs. Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she is a woman” (Lee 188). Through Atticus’s statement, Harper Lee reveals that women did not obtain as many privileges as men