Who Is Miss Jean Brodie

Characters can make or break a story. The way an author uses them decides whether the book will be a good book, or if it flops instead. Some great characters are Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series, and Jem Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Each is used in a strategic way by the author to make their story seem whole. They affect themes, plots, and overall feelings in a book. In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Harper Lee uses the character Jem Finch to demonstrate the themes of innocence and maturity. Lee creates such a personality for him that it has shaped his role in the story. Through Jem’s trust in the goodness of people, he shows his childhood innocence, while his experiences and new understandings help him mature.

She is a skilful individual, but she also has a hateful streak about her. Her aim is to inspire her whole class through the merits of artistic expression: sharing tales of her romances, her travel, and the culture she has witnessed – her admiration of Mussolini – highlights the duality in her nature that makes her unforgettable. Her love for the finer things in life is rather worthy, however the inappropriate intimacy with her selected pupils – the ‘Brodie set’ – ultimately leads to her dismissal. This is where the theme of duality arises again. Her students are constantly back and forth with the question as to whether they love her or hate her. The ‘Brodie set’ truly admire Jean Brodie, but conversely, they have committed acts which prove quite contraire – such as writing a love story involving her which would inevitably be found out. Miss Brodie herself is also shown two sides to the coin in regards to her relationship with her set. She tries to educate them to the best of her ability – one in which she is confident in – but also, she messes with their emotions, encouraging affairs with married teachers, and at the most severe, urges one of her pupils to join the Spanish Civil War – and not even on the right

The poem “Invictus” by William E. Henley, and the novel Anthem by Ayn Rand, both have common themes that discuss the importance of individuality. Each of the themes that these works have to offer will be discussed throughout the paragraphs of this essay.

     Another example of how Miss Brodie gives her student the wrong impression was her repetitive attacks on Miss MacKay. It was obvious the two teachers did not like one another, which is bound to happen in any profession. However, advertising this dislike to her classroom only leads to problems. The first time that this occurs is when Miss Brodie was leading here class out to the elm tree for the ‘imaginary’ history lesson. On the way outside she stops her class in front of Miss MacKay’s office, points to a picture of the old Prime

Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an

The genre of the story is historical fiction and the setting is the 1930’s southern America in a town called Maycomb, in Alabama. The story is narrated by Scout Finch, a young girl whose innocent heart has been exposed to the evils of southern United States in the 1930’s. This setting is vital to the plot of the summary because during that time was the great depression and racism was especially common in the south, where lynching rose from 8 in

Childhood years are a very impressionable time. This is no different for the fictional characters Scout and Jem Finch. Growing up in southern Alabama, they learned many lessons from the people around them and the circumstances they faced. Some of these important lessons learned are courage, empathy, and prejudice.

In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is represented as the stereotypical, all well-knowing fatherly figure to Jem and Scout, and more than oftenly teaches them moral lessons and how to behave as they are transitioning into young adulthood.  Three values that Atticus Finch heavily instills within his children is to live humbly, swear by equality, and have respect for everyone no matter what color your skin is or what you believe in.  These values shape and mold each Jem and Scout into independently minded children who learn wrong from right as the book’s plotline continues.

It is interesting to see that Brown decided to present this information in the form of a quote instead of using his own words to describe the women of his novel. One of the reasons for this is to stay consistent with his novel. Brown is continually sourcing quotes from other authors at the beginning of his chapters as well as throughout the novel, to have us look on other people’s words with a

These three brides represent the femme fatale, the fatal woman. The over sexualised women whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. These women serve as monstrous reminders of what happens if the boundaries of proper behaviour and traditional gender roles are crossed. These women, although beautiful, possess the wrong type of beauty, one of which brands them as evil, openly sexual and seductive women. Who, in addition lack the chaste passivity and fragility of the ideal Victorian lady, thus making them deserving of some form of punishment in order for them to be returned to their pure, innocent, albeit dead, human form.

The final lesson that Jem and Scout learn about in this novel is concerning gender issues. This issue does not play a very important role throughout the story but is mentioned a few times and made very obvious, especially during the trial of Tom Robinson. It is very evident in the courtroom when it is shown that there are no women on the jury, nor any women called on to be lawyers or judges. Women are not allowed to play a role in the court unless they are a victim, like Mayella Ewell, the

The world challenges the limits of everyone's vision to widen our views. What you see depends on how you look at it, and the angle in which you are looking at it from. In order for the world around us to change; we must ready ourselves for change too. Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is narrated through the eyes of Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch, but has an unexpected component. It is written from Scout's point of view as a child and as an adult. This combination adds tremendously to the novel’s motif of maturity, and challenges the reader to She tells the story as an adult Scout had finally done what Atticus has been urging her to do throughout most of the book. She placed herself in someone else's shoes to see the world through their eyes.-

In society today, someone will rarely find another that has been unaffected by world going on around them. Children’s authors often made the main characters of the stories individuals, setting a beacon of hope and encouragement from the readers (Gustavsson). Pipi Longstockings, for example, followed her own beliefs and the thoughts of her own mind as she refused to do as the adults in her life told her to do (Gustavsson). Individualism is about being content with what one’s ideas or (Gustavsson). Individualism, caving in to

One thing they are is a happy family. This is all that matters in life, to be happy because it can be taken from you with the snap of the fingers. The Finch’s, in Aunt Alexandra’s book, are not a fine family. Someone would say that Atticus, letting Scout run around with the boys , and wear overalls and such is dishonorable. Yes, at one point we all need to grow up, but they are kids. Happiness only comes around once in awhile and they should grab while they can. Scout is different, but isn’t everyone. These are the things that makes us unique. This goes to show that Aunt Alexandra gets what she wants no matter the consequences. This doesn’t make her a good influence on Scout or Jem because they need to look up to someone who cares about others and what’s going on around them. Atticus does this by taking the Tom Robinson case. He cares about what influence he has on his kids. He knew it wouldn't be right to just let this man die for a crime he mostly likely didn’t commit. Even though this case isn’t an easy one and will most likely lose he takes it. Something people might also say is that back in the old days a women would get nowhere without acting like a part of society. Scout’s life would be much easier if she put on a dress and acted how a girl should back then, but she doesn’t and because of that a difference is being made. Society evolves because of change without it we would be no where. Scout is just the start of people going against all the feminism. She can wear overalls and still be treated with respect. She’s a good person and deserves to dress and act like she wants to. Aunt Alexandra doesn’t understand that change can be good. That you don’t have to act like someone you're not. Family name and importance is not as important as making your family happy. Aunt Alexandra isn’t a good influence because she doesn’t care about what Jem and Scout

Miss Brodie is also compared to Joan of Arc (a national heroine and patron saint of France) : 'Staring out of the window like Joan of Arc as she spoke.'(page 11)Like Joan of Arc, Miss Brodie is opinionated and dominating. She defies the girls opinions and drills into heir heads that her opinions are actual facts:'Who is the greatest Italian painter?''Leonardo da Vinchi, Miss Brodie.''That is incorrect. The answer is Giotto, he is my favorite. (page 11.)Like Joan of Arc, in many ways Miss Brodie is very masculine, despite her alluring appearance and teaching the girls to be lady like.(This simply echoes many of her contradictions) Sandy, her chosen golden pupil, observes:'Some days it seemed to Sandy that Miss Brodies' chest was flat, no bulges at all, but as straight as her back.' (page 11)Sandy presents us with a masculine image of Miss Brodie here, and we see it not only in her appearance but her personality too. She mirrors Mussolini the Italian fascist, and we learn Miss Brodie admires him greatly. She uses words such as 'intruders' for school teachers interrupting a class, as if her 'creme de la creme' are chosen treaties, or in a biblical sense, her disciples. 'The Brodie set did not for a moment doubt she would prevail.'(page9) 'Prevail' has connotations of a highly authoritative leader like Mussolini, and we see the word 'assassinated'