Gender Roles In To Kill A Mockingbird

Calpurnia is pressured to meet the expectations set for both women and blacks in Maycomb society, and in many ways she does a good job at conforming to them. Calpurnia works as a nanny to Jem and Scout, which is a common job for black women. As the only adult woman in the household, Calpurnia,of course, keeps order on all things. She is an excellent cook and very strict towards Scout and Jem. Scout has a knack for getting in trouble, so she often complains about Calpurnia’s ‘tyrannical presence’. Despite this, readers often get a glance at Calpurnia’s maternal side. When Jem tells Scout to start acting like a girl, she flees to Cal for support. Although, she can’t give Scout much advice she is able to comfort her. “I just can’t help it if Mister Jem’s growin’ up. He’s gonna want to be off to himself a lot now, doin’ whatever boys do, so you just come right on in the

Why do people want to change the way we live our life? I don’t fit in, so what? In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Lee uses characterization and tone in order to convey the idea that in society every gender has to follow their code of conduct, consequently it restricts people from being themselves in order to fit in.

“Yo’ folks might be better’n the Cunninghams but it don’t count for nothin’ the way you’re disgracin’ ‘em if you can't act fit to eat at the table you can just sit here and eat in the kitchen!” This is just one of the many examples Calpurnia sets for the children. Calpurnia is the Finch’s cook but she takes her role in the children’s life more seriously. She acts as parent; constantly teaching the kids lessons about life and race. She serves as a bridge for Jem and Scout between the white and black communities. Calpurnia could be the mother Jem and Scout never had because she is wise, caring, and patient with the kids.

Racism is a big issue in this novel, Even though racism is not as bad as it used to be it is still something that is causing a lot of pain to dark-skinned people.

When Scout finds fault in Walter Cunningham’s dining habits, Calpurnia is the first to reprimand her. Unlike Aunt Alexandra, Calpurnia disregards background and upbringing when determining social standing, demanding Scout treat everyone with equal respect. Calpurnia forces Scout to understand that “it [doesn’t] matter who they are” it is never acceptable “[to remark] on their ways like you [are] high and mighty”(33). This first lesson in tolerance emphasizes to Scout that she is not superior to Walter due to her table manners, and that different people have different methods. Calpurnia quickly extinguishes the superiority of Scout’s airs of sophistication and manners in comparison to Walter’s dining habits. While Walter’s ways were less refined, Calpurnia taught Scout to still be tolerant. Scout is encouraged to maintain an open mind to those remarkably similar, straying from tolerance only being in regards to race. Scout also begins to admire and accept the ideas and ways of a typical Southern woman by observing Calpurnia. Though Scout endlessly disregards the separate gender spheres of Southern life, the exposure she gains with Calpurnia allows her to question its validity allowing her to tolerate it. It is while “watching her [Scout begins] to think there was some skill involved in being a girl”(154). Scout had forever shunned the idea of being limited to work in the household, however, by observing Calpurnia she understands the graceful subtleties that previously went unnoticed. While Calpurnia’s work did not lead to Scout fully embracing Southern gender roles, its status in Scout’s mind greatly improved. “Scout admired the ease and grace with which [Calpurnia] handled the heavy loads,” and she grew to appreciate the work of a woman in the household (305). Scout’s change of heart towards rigid

“Men are taught to apologize for the weaknesses, women for their strengths.” (Lois Wyse) Gender roles are apart of life whether we like it or not, but in the 30s they were extremely prominent. Women were meant to look pretty and proper while men strong and masculine. In To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee writes from the perspective of an eight year old girl, Scout, about her life in Maycomb Alabama. She lives with her brother, Jem, and her father, Atticus. Atticus is assigned a case to represent a black man, named Tom Robinson, against a rape charge which angers a lot of people. Many of the chapters consist of the trial and in the end Tom is killed. Alongside dealing with the trial, Lee writes about

She is more a part of the family than anything else. She has been the mother figure in the lives of Scout and Jem since Scout could remember. She is shown throughout the book in the white world of Alabama and Lee only gives the audience a small taste of what she is like in her own community. When Atticus is away she is there for the kids. She is tough on the rules, but is also nurturing. When Scout comes home from her first day of school, Calpurnia she kisses her. Scout is confused by it, but she just missed her being home during the day. When Calpurnia takes them to church she gives them a dime and when Jem insists on using his she says, “"I don't want anybody sayin' I don't look after my children" (Lee 134). She has always viewed them as her own. She shows them the caring side and her teachings of moral values runs parallel with Atticus’. She was also able to teach Scout how to write and because she is a black woman in the 1930s who is literate she never acts better than anyone else. Scout invites Walter Cunningham over for dinner and when she reticules him for the way he is eating Calpurnia scowls Scout to show her the type of lady should want to be. She tells Scout,

The expectation of the gender roles of Maycomb effect Jean Louise Finch (Scout) directly. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee there is an ‘unspoken law’ about how women should act and present themselves. The character Scout in the novel breaks these laws frequently. To begin, it is Christmas and Scout is at the Finch Landing and Francis is starting to get on Scout’s nerves: “This time, I split my knuckle to the bone on his front teeth. My left impaired, I sailed in with my right” (112). Scout hit Francis because he was calling Atticus a “Nigger lover” for defending Tom Robinson.She did this because she has a high level of respect for her father and that is why Scout hit Francis, it was in defence of Atticus. But the expectation of gender roles in Maycomb state that proper ladies are not to be violent, but to be polite and proper all the time.

When Scout and Jem accompany Calpurnia to go her church, they learn several new things about her. And upon learning these things, Scout says “the idea that she had a separate existence outside our household was a novel one, to say nothing of her having command of two languages”(page 167). Scout realized that Calpurnia can fit into both black and white communities with ease, and is amazed how she is able to live a sort of double life. She learns how Calpurnia speaks differently because she does not want to seem arrogant, and is able to stand up for herself. This scene exposed Scout to a new side of Calpurnia, and she begins to see her as a role model. Her strong, independent and humble personality also changed Scout’s view on women, since these are traits that she did not believe females possessed. Another example of Calpurnia's influence on Scout is during a scene in which Scout says that “(Calpurnia) seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl(page 154). In previous context, being called a girl was a negative thing, and Scout saw it as in insult. But after becoming closer to Calpurnia, Scout comes to realize that being a girl is not just about the dresses and looking pretty, but there are many positive traits and skills involved in being a girl. By strengthening her

“Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day!’ With that, I had no option but to join them”. During the 1930s gender roles were very stressed and emphasized. They were such an important part of their society that it was seen as a revolting action to break the gender roles. Gender roles are slowly fading away in our societies current state of being.

Alexandra is determined to bend Scout’s behavior to meet stereotypical women's roles. At seven-years-old, Scout is just learning all of the rules of society and is unaware of the grueling and harsh rules of being a lady. Aunt Alexandra’s expectations of ladylike behavior makes Scout want to rebel. “Aunt Alexandra’s vision of my deportment involved playing with small stoves, tea sets, and wearing the Add-A-Pearl necklace she gave me when I was born; furthermore, I should be a ray of sunshine in my father’s lonely life” (Lee 108). Aunt Alexandra makes it clear that the only way, in her opinion, to make Scout’s father happy is to meet the expectations of a being a lady.

By Scout not wearing the appropriate and expected attire, Lee can show how the society around her valued gender roles. When talking to Atticus, Aunt Alexandra voices, “You’ve got to do something about her,” Aunty was saying. You’ve let things go on too long Atticus, too long.’” 182 Aunt Alexandra does not approve of the way Scout is being raised and thinks it’s her job to change her ways to create her ideal proper niece. This expresses the theme of gender roles because Scout has grown up without a feminine influence and when Aunt Alexandra arrives at the Finch house, she makes it apparent that Scout is the opposite of the women she is instructed to be.

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

The topic of feminism and traditional gender roles is prevalent throughout multiple works of American literature. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee explores the idea of defying traditional gender roles through one of the characters, Scout: a little girl who prefers rough games and pants over dolls and dresses. Similar to this, in the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry elucidates this topic through one of the characters, Beneatha. As a 20 year old African American woman in the 1950s, Beneatha aspires to become a doctor in a time where her gender is a barrier to her success, and she lacks support from the people that surround her; such as her boyfriend, George Murchison. However, Beneatha refuses to allow society and

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible” (Angelou 181). This quote may be very relatable in anyones’ life, fictional or not. Being prejudice can delude anybodys’ thinking process and can lead others into deeper holes. In To Kill a Mockingbird prejudice and discrimination are displayed against genders, outsiders, and races.