An Analysis Of Scout's Identity In To Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee

Scout in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a novel set in the United States during the 1930's. This novel deals with the hardships of growing up, among other important themes. Scout, the main character in the book, underwent many challenges during her early life that resulted in her maturing at a young age. Scout learned the meaning of racism, courage, and tolerance (comprehension).

First of all, Scout is more a tomboy than a girl. Boys tend to live by the phrase, “Boys rule. Girls drool.” Scout expresses,” I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.” (45). This quote implies that Scout thinks girl things are bad and boy things are good. She has constantly been taught this. Scout believes she can avoid being a girl by not acting like one. Being a girl to Scout is more about what she does than what she is born with. Another example of Scout being more of a boy is how she reacts to the situation with Walter Cunningham and Miss. Caroline. In the text, Scout states, “Ah-Miss. Caroline? Miss. Caroline, he’s a Cunningham.” (22). The gender role of a girl would usually to sit back and watch everything go down. In Scout’s case, she is outspoken and has no filter. She has to tell Miss. Caroline what everyone else is thinking. It is in this sense and others that Scout challenges the traditional gender roles throughout the

Scout is a young child who acts like a tomboy. During her whole childhood, Scout had little feminine influence and was raised with a lot of male influence and her friends were boys. Lee writes, “But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain of being called a g-irl” (Lee 46). Scouts finds it an insult to be called a girl because she doesn't want to be associate as a weak damsel that always imagines things. Lee writes, “Ladies seemed to live in faint horror of men, seemed unwilling to approve wholeheartedly fo them. But I liked them. There was something about them, no matter how undelectable they were, there was something about them that I instinctively liked . . . they weren’t ---- “Hypocrites, Mrs. Perkins, born hypocrites,” (Lee 267). Scout doesn’t like the fact that the women in her aunts missionary circle were all gossiping and saying bad things about other people who they are supposed to help in the name of God. She likes that men are straightforward and find them easier to hang out with and

She is a Tomboy who is always wearing overalls and muddy shoes, gets into fights and prefers the company of men rather than women, yet she is expected to abide by specific rules due to her gender. She is forced to wear dresses to school and church, is not allowed to go swimming with Jem and Dill, and is always told to act like a "lady". "It's time you start bein' a girl and actin' right!" (Lee 154). This causes Scout to feel like an outsider, but it influences her into becoming more aware that one day she will have to enter the ambiguous world of womanhood.

Lee (1960) explains a story by using Scout’s perspective who is a 6 year-old girl in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”. This story shows a family’s normal life, which is set in the small rural town of Maycomb, Alabama in 1930s in the United States. This family have four members, which are daughter Scout, son Jem, father Atticus, and cook Calpurnia. She shows Atticus as a great father by describing Atticus’ the language, which is used for educating his children. For example, when the children make language conflict with Dubose who is their neighbor, Atticus educate his children to tolerate and understand Dubose. He said “She’s an old lady and she’s ill. You just hold your head high and be a gentleman. Whatever she says to you, it’s your job

In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch is portrayed as a very complex little girl. Scout’s intelligence, tomboyish and outspoken ways are frustrating but loveable to adults around her. Even with all of her quirks, she is deeply loved by her family and friends. As the story unfolds from her young perspective, things made complicated by adults seem much simpler.

What was it about your childhood that made you who you are today? Scout was forced to grow up faster than most because of what was happening around her. Her father was called upon to defend a black man who was accused of raping a white woman. These situations and more helped her mature and open her eyes. In to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the reader should learn that Scout’s childish and tomboyish behaviour changes because she is exposed to difficult events, resulting in a more mature person.

The adult world is a cold and terrifying place. There are robberies, shootings, murders, suicides, and much more. If you were to be a small child, perhaps age 5, and you were to look in at this world, you would never know how bad it actually was, just from a single glance. Children have a small slice of ignorant bliss, which helps to keep them away from the harsh of reality. It isn’t until later, when they encounter something that opens their eyes and shows them, that they truly start to understand the world we live it. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird shows the many differences between the simplicity of being a kid and the tough decisions and problems that adults must face every day.

One thing children all have in common is that when they are young, they dream of growing up as quickly as possible. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee the reader begins to understand that one of the characters, Scout commences to act more like an adult at her young age. In the first couple of chapters, the author introduces Scout, as an immature little kid that only cares about herself. She also makes Scout a character that does not think she needs lessons from her elders. But as the story progresses, she understands that not everything is about her and begins to listen and take advice from her elders. Scout begins to mature as a character by understanding others point of views and showing the proper respect to her elders.

After Mrs.Dubose died in To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus explained to Jem and Scout why he admired Mrs.Dubose’s courage even though she never showed courage physically,she showed courage morally by stopping her addiction. “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”(93). Atticus is trying to teach Jem and Scout that being courageous can be illustrated in other forms other than physical courage in order to be considered a hero. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee uses characterization to reveal heroism is not only about showing physical courage but it is also about showing moral and intellectual courage. Mrs.Dubose showed moral courage when she stopped her

Scout is resistant, but she does not understand the seriousness of gender roles and how not meeting expectations will affect her. Even Scout’s wardrobe is in question. “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’s life includes many things that require her running about in pants, but a respected elder told her that it was not appropriate. In the book, the story slowly draws to Scout into giving in to the expectations of other ladies in Maycomb County.

One’s childhood innocence is never lost, it simply plants the seed for the flower of maturity to bloom. It seems that almost every adult chooses to either forget or ignore this childhood vulnerability. But ironically, it was this quality that pushed them into adulthood in the first place. At the peak of their childhood, their post climactic innocence allows room for the foundation of maturity to begin to grow. In the sleepy southern town of Maycomb this is exactly what happens to eight years old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. In To Kill a Mockingbird the character Scout is forced to surround herself with a very adult situation, when a trial comes to the small town of Maycomb. The trial raises the question that shakes the entire town up, what

In her childhood, Scout is faced with different challenges as to how women should act and what they should spend their everyday lives doing. She is introduced to the fact that not all women are given jobs due to their gender and due to what her aunt tells her, she needs to act more like a lady. Scout’s aunt disagrees with the way Scout’s father is raising her. She believes that Scout shouldn’t act like tomboy and should be wearing dresses and playing with tea sets. Aunt Alexandra believes that Scout will ruin the family due to the fact that she can’t act how a real lady should. After the Tom Robinson case, Scout wonders why there aren’t any Maycomb folks on the jury. Atticus, her father, explains to her, “For one thing, Miss Maudie can’t serve on a jury because she’s a woman-” (Lee 296). Throughout her childhood, Scout grows up learning stereotypes on what women should do with their lives. To add to this explanation, Scout didn’t grow up with a mother, which has caused her to dislike the “lady ways”. Gender roles are a key part in the growing up of

In “To Kill A Mockingbird” Scout transforms from a rough tomboy with a lack of compassion for others into something much greater. With help from positive influences around her, she developed a better view and understanding of the injustices that were unfolding in the south and more specifically her hometown of Maycomb. While Scout is undoubtedly the main character, Jem and Atticus also experience significant changes throughout the novel. The novel is through the view of a much older Scout. The novel is set when Scout is six and Jem is ten; the novel runs through the course of the next three years.

Scout is confident and unique through her father’s nurture. She and along with her brother, Jem, were brought up without any knowledge of prejudice, racism, and discrimination. She was raised differently from the other young girls in Maycomb. While other girls are dressed up in dresses, stocking, and flats, Scout does not give in to dressing as other girls in her community. She is notorious for being dressed as a tomboy, wearing overalls and sneakers, and playing with her brother and their friend, Dill. Scout does not perceive social accountability and manners. However, she is known to defend any individual who she believes deserves to be defended because of disrespectful comments about the color of their skin.