Mrs Grace Merriweather Character Analysis

In the story, Scout if affected by racism and prejudice at her school, and around town. At school, she is picked on by a town boy called Cecil Jacobs for her father doing his job in

Growing up in prejudiced town is not the ideal place for any family to reside in, yet alone a young, naive girl oblivious to the hatred around her. Jean Louise Finch, also known as “Scout”, is a young girl growing up in a prejudiced county called Maycomb in Alabama. As she ages, she encounters three major role models and their specific, significant lessons concerning the conflicts in Maycomb, Alabama. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper E. Lee, Calpurnia, Miss Maudie, and Atticus shape Scout’s character by teaching her to be accepting, optimistic, and resilient against those who harm the helpless.

Harper Lee introduces Scout as an insensible tomboy caught in the midst of contrite prejudicial conception. She has not yet discovered what is right and wrong due to various misconceptions that the people of Maycomb

The irony in the lack of understanding of the Mrunas in the missionary circle’s discussions creates a source of division for Maycomb. They categorize the Mrunas as outcasts of society which is ironic since they are not true members of the community through their failure to recognize the way that a community should function. When Scout attended the missionary circle meeting, she “learned more about the poor Mruna’s social life from listening to Mrs. Merriweather: they had so little sense of family that the tribe was one big family. A child had as many fathers as there were men in the community, as many mothers as there were women” (Lee 287). The irony in Mrs. Merriweather saying that the Mrunas had “so little sense of family” is that, in reality, the missionary circle doesn’t know how to behave like a family since they constantly gossip about members of

In Harper Lee’s novel ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, the main character Scout’s journey of maturation is charted as she progresses in her moral education and gains a broader, more adult perspective of the world around her. Scout learns the vital need for utilising tolerance, compassion and empathy when dealing with others, no matter an individual’s reputation or the circumstance. She is also exposed to the terrible injustice and racial prejudice that overcomes Maycomb’s community, and sees how this outright bigotry has severe consequences. Atticus also teaches Scout the meaning of true courage, in both a physical and a moral sense, and how true bravery is often not appreciated by the majority. Harper

Scout is a symbol of opposing prejudice and ignorance.  She is a tomboy who hates wearing dresses and beats up friends who offend her.  She spends most of her time reading with her father and getting into episodes with her brother Jem, ones which often find them in trouble with their father, their maid, neighbors, their aunt and their teachers.  Just as prejudice controls the behavior of most of the town's residents, there are also strict rules of social behavior which the town's white residents reinforce every chance they get.  Despite this

For example, Scout witnesses Miss Gates completely contradicting herself when she says “persecution comes from people who are prejudiced...there are no better people in the world than the Jews, and why Hitler doesn’t think so is a mystery to me” (281). Even though she had said “it’s time somebody taught “em a lesson, they were getting’ way above themselves, an’ the next thing they think they can do is marry us” (283), after she had heard the guilty verdict of Tom Robinson. Scout starts to learn that not everyone has the same definition of prejudiced. When Scout hears Miss Gates speak she starts to question how someone can try and defend the Jews but be completely racist about the black community in her own town. Moreover, after Scout finds out about the injustice of Tom Robinson getting shot she doesn’t know how to react, so she looks to the adults around her to see what to do and see that they do not act as if anything happened and they asked one another “do I show it?...not a sign.”(270). When Scout looks to her elders for guidance in a situation it shows that she does respect Aunt Alexandra and trusts what she does in such a critical situation. Scout begins to understands that in order for her to deal with an unstable world she needs to look around for help every once in a while. Through critical thinking and questioning the members of her community, Scout starts to understand what it means to mature into a young woman.

Scout’s upbringing in a family strongly rooted in personal morals inspires her to look beyond the discriminatory

First of all, Lee’s critical tone of prejudice is demonstrated by Scout’s innocent curiosity and perception of her surrounding society. Specifically, Lee’s critical tone is illustrated by Scout’s curiosity and the numerous questions she asks her family members throughout the duration of the novel. For example, when Scout raises questions to her Aunt Alexandra concerning her prejudice towards the Cunningham family, her innocence is exhibited by her desire to understand the world, but also to question it. A specific example of Scout’s curiosity is when Aunt Alexandra informs Scout not to invite Walter over for dinner, which leads Scout to ask “Why not, Aunty? They’re good folks” (223). Aunt Alexandra responds with: “The thing is, you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines, you can put him in shoes and a new suit, but he’ll never be like Jem” (224). Aunt Alexandra’s response exemplifies her prejudice towards the structure of the social classes in Maycomb County. However, Scout’s innocent nature enables her to remain uncorrupted by prejudice and to question the unquestionable. Lee’s use of a child as a narrator allows her to ask the tough questions regarding Maycomb County’s way of life and question why it is prejudiced towards a certain individual or group of individuals. Moreover, Harper Lee’s choice of narration

Folks." Scout was trying to say that all people are created equal. No one, by nature, is superior to anybody else. This is a very contrary view to what most people believed at that time, especially in the South. There was prejudice between races and prejudice between families. The most obvious theme of the book is racism. Staged in the early 1930’s in southern Alabama, racism was still undeniably present. Even though the amendments which freed slaves and gave them rights were passed more than sixty years prior, the culture of the south intertwined with racism. Interracial marriages were illegal. Different races could not attend the same schools. It was the law that whites and blacks could not even be put together in the same jail cells. Looking at these things, one can only imagine the upheaval when a Negro was accused of raping a white woman: but did this stop Atticus from standing up for justice? No, it didn’t. He knew perfectly well how criticizing eyes would view the case; no matter how glaring the evidence was, the people wouldn’t accept an African American’s word over a white man’s. Atticus saw all people as equal, regardless of their skin color and he knew what was the right thing to do. He was a friend and ally to the African American community and they respected them for it. Another example is the Cunningham family. When Walter comes over for lunch, Scout criticizes him but

Harper Lee introduces Scout as an insensible tomboy caught in the midst of contrite prejudicial conception. She has not yet discovered what is right and wrong due to various misconceptions that the people of

The society Scout grew up in was one of judgement and classification of people by things they can not control, such as race. A clear example of the way that the community would label an African American was stated by Atticus, “Scout, nigger-lover is just one of those terms that don’t mean anything- like

Scout begins as a child who isn’t really aware of the situations surrounding her environment. As most kids do she uses her imagination to suffice for much more important topics. For example, her neighbor who they refer to as “Boo Radley” is seen as a crazy murdering psychopath who roams the streets at night looking for food. Scouts interpretation of Boo Radley is nothing more but a clear instance of a young child settling for their own imaginations. Another instance of immaturity

When Scout wants to invite Walter over, her Aunt Alexandra refuses, because “he—is—trash . . . [and she will] not have [Scout] around him, picking up his habits and learning Lord-knows-what” (301). Hearing this, Scout sobs, insisting that he is not trash. Scout’s insistence that Walter is not trash shows how Scout gains respect for Walter. She views him as an equal, unlike in the beginning of the book when she, like her aunt, viewed Walter as inferior to her because of his family. Scout’s initial judgment of Walter and her consequent admonition from Calpurnia causes Scout to learn to respect Walter as a person. Scout’s maturation is again shown when Jem attempts to explain to Scout why Tom Robinson was not acquitted by the jury, by telling her that there are “four kinds of folks in the world . . . the ordinary kind like [them] . . . the Cunninghams out in the woods . . . the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes” (302). Jem lists each “kind” of people in decreasing order of social status, calling his and Scout’s family a part of the regular folk while the Cunninghams, Ewells, and black people are stereotyped as lesser people. They, according to Jem’s explanation of the social stratification in Maycomb, are not worthy of being considered as normal citizens of the town. In response to this statement, Scout says that she thinks there is “just one kind of folks” (304), showing how Scout recognizes that all people should be regarded as equals, no matter what their family background or race is. Scout also reflects on her participation in “what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley” (324). Remembering the intrusive acts she, Jem, and Dill have done, she “feels a twinge of remorse, [for] what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters, delivering greetings on the end of a fishing-pole, wandering in his collards at night?” (324). Scout’s regret shows how she starts

Scout’s fathers willingness to defend all, no matter what race, means that Scout and Jem must also pay for their fathers decisions. During this time Scout and her brother get bullied by other children at school, being teased of being “negro lovers”. Even though the children feel humiliated by the community; they admire their father, but can’t understand his reasons for taking a case for a black man.