Analysis Of Harper Lee 's ' Kill A Mockingbird '

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

In to Kill Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout dislikes Aunt Alexandra who tries to make scout more ladylike which results in Scout following the social expectations of Maycomb county. Atticus a loving and caring father, tells her children about Aunt Alexandra’s mission. He tells them about how they are Finches and are different from other people. “Your aunt has asked me to try and impress upon you and Jean Louise that you are not from run-of-the-mill people, that you are the product of several generations’ gentle breeding-.”

The first example of this is when she is at her family's Christmas celebration, when her Aunt Alexandra comments on what she is wearing. Scout thinks to herself, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches…”(Lee 108). Scout does not listen to her aunt and believes that girls should be able to dress however they want. She thinks that there is no evident definition of an “average girl”, and concludes that society should not view a woman just by her apparel. Another example is when Scout is with her family celebrating Christmas and her cousin Francis is there. Francis makes a vile comment about how Atticus, Scout's father, loves African-Americans, which is a mean thing to say at this time in history. Francis only says this considering that Atticus is a lawyer and is defending Tom Robinson, an African-American, in court. Scout gets really fanatic and starts beating up Francis. When Scout was describing the incident she states, “Francis called Atticus somethin’, an’ I wasn’t about to take it off him” (114). Scout believes that it is essential to stand up to people that are going against the people one might love. Also, she affirms that it is important to stand up against racism, no matter what situation a person might be in. Even though Scout gets in trouble often, she always speaks her mind and does not worry about others thoughts and

When Aunt Alexandra notices how Atticus disciplines his children, she reacts and tells him to change it: "Atticus, it's all right to be soft hearted, you’re an easy man, but you have a daughter to think of" (pg. 182). Atticus doesn't approve of Aunt Alexandra's ways and views but he never contradicted her and proved her wrong. He simply accepted her beliefs because he knows she's entitled to believe whatever she wants. So when Scout talked back to her aunt, Atticus tells her to still obey and respect Aunt Alexandra: "Let's get this clear: you do as Calpurnia tells you, you do as I tell you, and as long as your aunt's in the house you will do as she tells you" (pg. 182). Atticus respects Aunt Alexandra and her opinions, meaning he understands and accepts her.

One person who has a very different opinion from Scout's is aunt Alexandra, who says a woman should be prim and proper. In the text it says “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.”(262) Scout is so used to her tomboyish ways of dressing/acting that it is very foreign to her when she has to act like Alexandra’s vision of a lady. Aunt Alexandra was always persistent about Scout being a certain type of lady with a bunch of strict rules, but Scout was not going down without a fight. Also when Jem says, “You know she's not used to girls," said Jem, "leastways, not girls like you. She's trying to make you a lady. Can't you take up sewin' or somethin'?”(232) This hits Scout harder than when Alexander tells her to be a lady because Scout had always been Jem’s little sidekick. The kids were close, but when he pushed her away like this it hurt Scout emotionally. Being called a girl was considered an insult, but now that’s what Jem wants Scout to be now. Finally Scout learns that sometimes it is commendable to be a lady, such as when her father told her and the other women that Tom had died. Scout pulled it together like the rest of the women and made it so that no one in the missionary society ever knew anything was ever wrong. Jem still

Scout lacks a female influence in her life since her mother died when she was two and Jem and Atticus are the only two she can look up to. Since she lacks the influence in her life, Scout is more of a tomboy rather than a lady. She associates being ladylike with frilly dresses, gossip, and a lack of fun. Since her aunt is staying for a while, Scout realizes she must follow her rules, to her dismay. In TKAM, Scout states, “I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away.

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird scout is a great example of someone who seems to struggle with this. Scout also suffers criticism from her aunt Alexandra as she would like to see Scout be a “girl.” Aunt Alexandra portray in great depth and common stereotypes for girls. She believes that dressing well, using manners, being polite, and being social are necessary to be a proper lady. Aunt Alexandra constantly insists that Scout should act more like a proper lady.

Aunt Alexandra wanted Scout to wear dresses and participate in tea parties rather than wear overalls and play games with Dill and Jem. She wanted Scout to be an Alexandra-in-progress by making her join her in tea or took her away from the role-playing games with Jem and Dill to behave like a proper lady. Aunt Alexandra wanted Scout to act like her own person, but her own person should be like every other female at the time. Scout wanted to ignore her aunt and stay true to herself, to be different, but eventually she gave in and wore the dress and went to the tea party to please her aunt, not out of a willing change of character. It is refreshing to see someone, child or adult, to instead of taking everyone’s desires of what one should wear or act like take it and will not let it impact their thoughts on themselves. Scout took what her aunt said and instead of being bitter and turning resentful towards Aunt Alexandra for it, like most others would, she stayed true to herself and tried to pretend to make her Aunt happy. Aunt Alexandra was not even able to touch the clay to try and form

Sexism is clearly shown through the expectations Aunt Alexandra has for Scout. It was Christmas season and Aunt Alexandra has come to visit along with Uncle Jack. Scout is not very happy with Aunt Alexandra’s presence since Aunt Alexandra always holds high standards for Scout as a girl: “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. 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). Clearly, Aunt Alexandra holds very stereotypical standards for Scout in how she expects Scout to act more “lady like”.

Gender differences is something that was a major problem in the book with Scout. Scout is a tomboy and she does not like to wear dresses and prefers to wear overalls like Jem, she would rather get into fist fights then sit down and be lady-like. This is also why she is named scout rathe then Jean Louise her given name, but Aunt Alexandra does not like this and tries in every way to get Scout to become a lady, without a mother in her life Aunt Alexandra and Calpurnia are the closes things she got with Calpurnia not caring as much and Aunt Alexandra caring a lot more. Scout does try to be a lady when Aunt Alexandra missionary group comes over and sits down with them and makes conversation as best she can, but she does not fit in with them and

Women in society tend to tell other women to be more ladylike. In the book, women like Mrs. Dubose and Aunt Alexandra do the same, but to more extreme levels. In chapter nine, Scout narrates a conversation that she once had with Aunt Alexandra; "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

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

Just as Scout defied the rules that society constrained her to she was able to still be her own person and create her own person rather than acting as a “lady” as multiple people had tried to manipulate her into becoming. Being a lady is not defined by the way a person acts or thinks. It is defined by how one perceives it for themselves and not letting anyone else change who they wish to be. Everyone is their own lady—Metaphorically speaking—and should not focus on how others define them, but rather on how they can execute being a better person to help improve society. To Kill a Mockingbird opens readers eyes to the social injustices that are seen in civilization and how to avoid them and be their own

Scout Finch, in the novel To Kill and Mockingbird by Harper Lee, experiences and perceives much of the events through an untainted and innocent lens. As the story progresses, she leaves behind childhood as she matures in her newfound understanding of her place in this society. Through her interactions with her Aunt Alexandra, who is a stereotypical southern lady, she recognises her own roles as a female, albeit she doesn’t quite agree with them. Without the presence of her aunt, Scout would not have acknowledged her

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird Bird by Harper Lee, there is a character named Scout who is a very lively, young girl. She does anything that a boy does, and will do it twice as well. Scout rarely ever cared what other people thought of her, so she did whatever she pleased. On the other hand, a character gets introduced later in the story who is Scout’s aunt. Her name is Aunt Alexandra, and her views on how a woman should behave are very different from Scout’s. When she first comes to live with the Finch family, she always tries to correct Scout. This leads to a lot of fighting as well as frustration. Aunt Alexandra wants Scout to be more lady-like and be a Southern Belle; she wants to teach, and show an example of what being a proper lady is like to Scout.