Young Girl Named Scout By Harper Lee

He has put himself, and his family at the top, and black people at the bottom. Throughout the book, Harper Lee there introduces the Cunninghams, who are more poor than Finch’s, and then the Ewells, who are the poorest, living behind the dump. On the other hand, Miss Caroline, an outsider from northern Alabama, does not understand the social ranks in Maycomb. Scout tries to explain to her, ‘“That’s okay, ma’am, you'll get to know all the county folks after a while”’ (Lee 22).

The characters of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird are all different in their own way. Sometimes they can seem like the most infuriating people in the world, but then again they can be helpful, loving, and caring. The citizens of Maycomb County are stereotyped a lot throughout the book. They are labeled as many different things, but some of the stereotypes made aren’t entirely correct. A lot of people in To Kill a Mockingbird stereotype others by the way they look or talk based on what society considers normal. Two of the main characters in the book are stereotyped; Scout and Atticus Finch.

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

There are many different social classes in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The factors that separate people into these social classes are their skin color and their occupation.

“I think there are just one type of folks. Folks”(231). Scout, an eight-year-old girl filled with curiosity, innocence, and an open mind, says this with her own perspective. Harper Lee portrays her views through Scout, who did not yet experience the world and believes that each person, regardless of their character, race, or class, has the right to be treated equally amongst all. This does not occur in the town she lives in, Maycomb, and although she thinks that everyone is equal, her journey in life makes her realize that this is not true. Without noticing, Scout with her brother Jem, and a close friend, Dill develop major modifications in the ideals, and actions of others. To Kill a Mockingbird displays the relationship between the African American and white race and how it shifts because of various incidents. Affected by racial discrimination, Maycomb’s society faces controversies after turmoil arises. Change is developed in Maycomb’s orderly society because of Dill, Jem, and Scout acting upon their thoughts, creating chaos.

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

There are many different social classes in “To Kill A Mockingbird.” The factors that separate people into these social classes are their skin color and their occupation. For example, Atticus, Scout, and Jem are part of the highest social class. They are part of this social class because Atticus is a lawyer, which makes him a highly respected person in the community. He is also white, which, at that time was a very important factor that chose who belonged in what social class. Scout and Jem are his children and therefore are also part of this social class.

As girls grow in life, they mature and change into women. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, begins to mature into a woman. In the beginning of the book, she is a tomboy who cannot wait to pick a fistfight with anyone, but at the end, she lowers her fists because her father, Atticus, tells her not to fight. Scout's views of womanhood, influenced by how Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, and Calpurnia act, make her think more about becoming a woman and less of a tomboy.

The characters in, To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee, often use prejudice against people of controversial issues. Many of the townspeople of Maycomb use prejudice on the families who are on the less wealthy end of the spectrum. Issues are still displayed because of the racial prejudice used against African Americans and those of other races. Lastly, gender is a clear issue in Maycomb because of women’s and girl’s rights and lack of respect towards them because they are female. All of the types of prejudice show that Maycomb has many problems all throughout the town between other families and townspeople.

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

When the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written by Harper Lee, the Southern United States was still clinging tightly to traditional values. Southern societies pressured men to behave as gentlemen, and women were expected to be polite and wear dresses. These stringent gender roles were adhered to in small southern towns because they were isolated from the more progressive attitudes in other areas of the United States. Harper Lee documents the life of one young girl growing up in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Jean Louise Finch, also known as "Scout," is a young girl searching for her identity. Scout, a young tomboy, is pressured by adults who insist she should conform to the

Southerners are known to be proud of their traditional beliefs. To Kill A Mockingbird allows its readers to question and consider those beliefs. Maycomb represents a typical old southern town. Not many people move into Maycomb and not many people who live there journey beyond its boundaries. As a result, the opinions held by many of the citizens of Maycomb are left to grow and foster in the same families for many generations. The circumstances in Maycomb are less than ideal for generating change and more prone to sustaining traditionally accepted codes. Two codes embedded within southern social beliefs are class and race.

One’s childhood innocence is never lost, it simply plants the seed for the flower of maturity to bloom. It seems that almost every adult chooses to either forget or ignore this childhood vulnerability. But ironically, it was this quality that pushed them into adulthood in the first place. At the peak of their childhood, their post climactic innocence allows room for the foundation of maturity to begin to grow. In the sleepy southern town of Maycomb this is exactly what happens to eight years old Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. In To Kill a Mockingbird the character Scout is forced to surround herself with a very adult situation, when a trial comes to the small town of Maycomb. The trial raises the question that shakes the entire town up, what

Harper Lee demonstrates the gender inequity In to Kill a Mockingbird through the description and words of the female narrator, Scout. The prejudice of Maycomb is shown so clearly, even an innocent child like Scout can see the raging extent of gender prejudice that surrounds her. Scout having traits that are more masculine in quality automatically makes her an outcast and disliked by Maycomb's many conforming ideals. Scouts innocence allows the novel to develop through an unbiased perspective. Women had little to serve in juries and there was the constant expectation all women had to act and dress like a Lady. Aunt Alexandra an evident example of having strong beliefs on how separate genders should behave, constantly scolding Scout for wearing her overalls and behaving too tomboyish." I was not so sure, but Jem told me i was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, thats why other people hated them so, and if i started behaving like one i could just go off and find some to play with. (4.119) Scout is raised to believe boys were better than girls, raised in a bigoted and heavily bias community, scout finds it a difficult and unfair experience trying to understand the unjust perceptions of the adults around her. Having Scout narrate the whole novel allows Harper lee to highlight the gender inequity in Maycomb.

In the beginning, while the main character Scout Finch is going to class with her new teacher Miss Caroline whom is new to town and doesn’t know very much about the people, social class is a very prominent theme. First off, while Scout was going to school she met a boy from the Cunningham tribe. The Cunningham tribe was very poor and worked off the land for all that they had. As Scout