Examples Of Bias In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Informative Essay “‘Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try to win’” (Lee 101). This famous quote is a part of Harper Lee’s famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel is shown through the eyes of an innocent little girl who is named Scout Finch. She is a tomboy who likes to play outside in overalls with her big brother, Jem Finch. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in a fictional town called Maycomb, Alabama. The book is built around a colored man, Tom Robinson, being taken to trial for being falsely accused of raping a young white girl. This town is home to many different problems occurring in the 1930’s. Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the main character, Scout,

In the novel, Scout’s Aunt Alexandra has high expectations for her. She has very southern opinion on women’s apparel. Aunt Alexandra does not approve of Scout’s attire and tries to improve it. This is proven when the novel states, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches” (Lee 108). Aunt Alexandra does not like the fact that Scout wears overalls and would like Scout to be more “ladylike.” Furthermore, an old lady who lives down the street from Scout has very high gender expectations about Scout too. This old lady is named Mrs. Dubose. She did not like the way Scout dressed and expected from her to be wearing a dress when out in public. As Mrs. Dubose states, “‘And you—’ she pointed an arthritic finger at me—‘what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!’” (Lee 135). Mrs. Dubose is very old and she still has expectations for gender roles that were in place when she was younger. Later in the novel, Mrs. Dubose dies due to her poor health. The last example of high gender expectations in To Kill a Mockingbird is when Jem tells her to start acting more like a girl. Scout and Jem were having an “altercation” when Jem spontaneously yelled out to Scout, “‘It’s time you started bein‘ a girl and acting right!’” (Lee 154). Jem is now growing older and says this to Scout despite it