Examples Of Jem's Expectation In To Kill A Mockingbird

To begin with, the first incident takes place when they visit Scout’s Aunt Alexandra. Scout recalls a memory, which she remembers as “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.” This shows me that even though her aunt argues that Scout needs to act more like a lady now, Scout denies this and is satisfied with how she dresses. In addition, Aunt Alexandra wants Scout to spend her time playing with “small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace.”(Lee, 83) Scout’s aunt tries to convince her to becoming accustomed to activities that will encourage her towards becoming a ‘proper’ lady

Before, Jem would always be Scout’s playmate but now he tells her to “stop pestering him” and that she should start “bein’ a girl and acting right”. Jem now likes to be kept alone and feels as if Scout is a lot more childish than he had realized.

Aunt Alexandra disapproves of Scout because she doesn’t dress or act lady-like. For example, instead of wearing necklaces and dresses, Scout wears overalls and pants.

Because of what people have heard about Scout, they stereotype that she isn’t ladylike because she acts like a boy and wears overalls. Mrs. Dubose, the Finch’s neighbor, says, “’…what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You’ll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn’t change your ways- a Finch waiting on tables at the O.K. Café-hah!’”(Lee 135). In this case, Scout is considered a stereotype, but she changes her ways. Scout is confronted with her own stereotypes in the novel but as she grows and learns, she begins to regret her actions. Scout changes her ways throughout the book in order to get rid of the label people put on her. Even though she is still a tomboy at heart, Scout learns how to control her actions and act more like a lady.

“I was not so sure,but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that's why other people hate them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with.” Scout also likes fighting with guys. For example, “catching Walter Cunningham in schoolyard gave me some pleasure,but when I was rubbing his nose in dirt Jem came by and told me to stop. ”Scout can be considered at tomboy because she doesn't like to wear dresses,and is always with

Along with the social flaws the children are experiencing, they also have personal problems. Jem struggles with sadness as he witnesses the problems with the justice system and the prejudices of society. Scouting is at an age where boys and girls don’t have much difference and they can still play together without ego being in the way. As Jem matures, he thinks that he shouldn’t be playing with a girl, so he starts to not play with Scout as much. Scout is also going through a phase where she is struggling to embrace the expectations of being feminine.

Scout does not feel exactly comfortable being around a group of women and she realizes it with this quote, “ Rather nervous, I took a seat beside Miss Maudie and wondered why ladies put on their hats to go across the street. Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere” (307). In that same scene, she succumbs to the pressures of the other women when asked what she wants to do when she grows up, saying “Nome, just a lady” (308). Scout starts to realize that it is inevitable that she deals with the world of ladies. “There is no doubt about it, I must soon enter this world, where on its surface fragrant ladies rocked slowly, fanned gently, and drank cool water. But I was more at home in my father’s world”

In the beginning of the novel, Scout acts masculine and is unable to stand being called a girl by Jem, creating a negative connotation with being a girl. “‘Scout, I’m tellin’ 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!’ With that, I had no option but to join them” (Lee 69). To Jem, calling Scout a girl is insulting, and indicates uselessness and weakness. He stereotypes all

This hurt Scout even more because Jem was always the one to tell her to rough around and stop acting like a girl, but now he has switched his whole opinion. Scout sees the injustice of being a woman and being smart, and she knows that it is unfair. In addition, Scout sees the injustice of different families. She sees how life is different at her cousin's house and how they were raised. She heard about the difference with the Ewell kids during the trial.

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 A Mockingbird I found that Scout was very harshly judged on they was she acts and dresses. “What are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress” (page 135) This scene was when Mrs.Dubose was screaming at Scout for not wearing a dress. I see that not only kids are telling Scout to change but that almost every adult is telling Scout to change and that she shouldn't be wearing that i the first place. Even if it's a different time period, and every girl was expected to be wearing a dress at all times, Scout at a young age of 6 is confident enough to keep on wearing a dress after everyone told her to change how its not ladylike. “If your scared go home, Scout when did you start acting like such a girl.” (Movie) This is when Scout and Jem were Going to Boo Radley's house, Scout was scared and Jem sees Scout are more like a boy than a girl, so when 6 year old scout got afraid Jem's first reaction wasn’t to go comfort her but to ask her when did she start acting like such a girl. I see this as the opposite of Mrs.Dubose, because instead of someone telling her to be like a girl it so someone telling her to be more like a boy. This puts a lot of pressure on Scout, who is only 6 years old! Weather it being make almost everyone in the town happy with her decision and make Jem sad, or make Jem happy and almost the whole town sad and maybe even a little

Scout resents what women are seen as. In sum, society wants women to act the way society sees them. To be specific, society sees women as housewives who should be pretty clean and cook.

Scout does not conform to the typical standards of southern girls in the 1930’s: she does not act like a lady, gets in fights, and curses. Scout especially hates dresses. She loves her overalls, and will do anything to avoid wearing a dress. At one point, Scout actually considers running away from her family: “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. Immediately” (Lee 182). Scout harbors so much hatred towards the stereotypical feminine attire that she contemplates running away. This quote demonstrates the level of distaste she truly has for dresses, and the overall confines of femininity. Scout persistently defies gender roles and acts differently from the conventional woman. This defines Scout’s personality and shapes her adventures throughout the entirety of the

As Scout gets a little older, she soon realizes that she will have to start acting like a lady. She begins to understand why Aunt Alexandra wants her to act the way that she does. She comes to understand her Aunt and believes there is something interesting in learning how to be a lady. She most realizes this when Jem and Dill go swimming and she couldn't go because they are swimming nude. Aunt Alexandra decides to invite the missionary Ladies for a tea party to discuss the current events in the town of Maycomb (their hometown). Aunt Alexandra dresses Scout up in a dress

She does not understand why girls must act like “ladies.” Aunt Alexandra comes into play and convinces Atticus that it would be best if she stays with them for “a while.” Jem says “You know she’s not used to girls, leastways, not girls like you. She’s trying to make you a lady. Can’t you take up swein’ or somethin’?”