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Examples Of Conformity In To Kill A Mockingbird

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It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird; just as it is for someone to be punished for being ”different” from everyone else. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird it presents the issues with conformity throughout maycomb through various people. A mockingbird is a person who doesn’t fit into society’s standards; although they don’t do anything wrong, they are still judged. In To Kill A Mockingbird, conformity in society has turned Tom Robinson and Scout into “mockingbirds” due to the fact that they don’t fit into society’s standards; Scout is a girl who acts and dresses like a boy unlike the other girls of maycomb. Tom Robinson is a black male who doesn’t fit into the predominantly white town, they feel black people are untrustworthy and bad people. Conformity is when a group of people act or believe in the same things just to fit in with society. Sometimes it’s a good thing but other times it …show more content…

While walking Boo home she described her experience,” Boo and I walked up the steps to the porch. His fingers found the front doorknob. He gently released my hand,opened the door,went inside, and shut the door behind him. I never saw him again.”(Lee 320) Scout decided to walk Boo Radley home that night when she really did not have to, she did it out of the kindness in her heart. When Aunt Alexandra was telling Jem and Scout why she was staying with them she said “ we decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won't be ,many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys.”(Lee 145) Atticus had Aunt Alexandra come stay with them because he felt Scout didn’t act feminine enough and the family was being judged for it. Scout gets scolded and made fun of a lot for being a tomboy and not fitting into the standards for girls. She has done nothing wrong, yet she still gets treated

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986 Words | 4 Pages

’s mother passed away. Aunt Alexandra tries to convert Scout from acting like a boy and tries to make her act like a girl more. Aunt Alexandra influences both Jem and Scout by teaching them basic manners. Ex. She teaches them how they should act when she first comes over.

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672 Words | 3 Pages

The main character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Atticus Finch, a middle aged man living in Maycomb Alabama. Even though he is a southerner he isn’t racist and he believes that everyone should be treated equal, Atticus teaches his children empathy and not to discriminate against other people, he does his by telling them “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” Even though Atticus treats everyone as equals he gets affected by the town and their prejudice way of thinking. Because Atticus accepts Tom Robinsons case he gets called a “nigger lover” and him and his children get treated differently by the town.

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674 Words | 3 Pages

Scout's growing understanding and acceptance of the people in her community, flaws and all, is one of the most significant ways she demonstrates tolerance. Scout, for example, is terrified of Arthur "Boo" Radley at first and believes the rumors that he is a "monster”. However, as she learns more about him and his situation, she starts to see him as a human being and develops empathy for him. This is demonstrated when Scout says "I was too old and too big for such childish things, but I knew that Jem's ideas about Arthur Radley were, to him, as real as the things he could see" (Chapter 6). This shows that Scout is growing in her understanding of people and her ability to empathize with them.

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864 Words | 4 Pages

The Mockingbird is originally brought up as the only thing Atticus has ever called a sin, which is why Scout remembers it. Atticus says, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a Mockingbird” (Lee 103). Later on, it is stated that it is a sin to kill a Mockingbird because they are innocent, and all they do is sing songs for other people to enjoy. As the plot thickens, we get introduced to a Mockingbird, Tom Robinson, someone who was innocent but got killed. Tom Robinson gets tried for rape and gets sentenced guilty, even though the story did not add up in the slightest, and quickly becomes a victim of overkill.

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1747 Words | 7 Pages

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Nelle Harper Lee, the citizens of Maycomb give and receive respect from the amount of conformity that is shown. At the beginning of the book, Jem is given little respect, Atticus is given a lot of respect, and the Radleys are given almost no respect. As the novel progresses, Jem matures and learns responsibility as a young adult. Atticus loses a bit of respect because of his defense of a black person. Meanwhile, the Radleys never conformed much and so never gained much respect.

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1408 Words | 6 Pages

Jose Nava Mrs. Eichorst English 9 Honors 30 March 2023 Conformity in To Kill A Mockingbird Do you think that you're different from others? Well as much as you might think you are you probably act like others more than you would think, this is called conformity. Conformity is something that all people have experienced at least once in their life. You experience it in school, around your family, and with friends, it’s something that in today's society is drastically normalized.

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625 Words | 3 Pages

Conformity exists all throughout society and is demonstrated in books like To Kill A Mockingbird. My essay will talk about conformity and how it affected Maycomb’s people. To Kill A Mockingbird is a book written by Harper Lee and it is very popular. It teaches teens many lessons like to be yourself. Conformity is when you act a certain way to fit in with others.

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Throughout the book, it shows how Aunt Alexandra was trying to raise Scout properly, trying to make her act more like a lady which shows the conformity of the time. ‘“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.”’ (Lee 108 ). all things considered, Aunt Alexandra was a big help to Atticus raising the children, in the film, Aunt Alexandra was not present. Without aunt Alexandra, the movie lost the important lesson of how back then, all girls act with the “lady-like” attitude.

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884 Words | 4 Pages

Atticus is seemingly fair and level-headed and tries to treat his children on equal ground, as can be seen on why he let’s them call him Atticus. But Atticus also tries to teach his children to be themselves despite gender roles, and how big they were back in that time period. “He said there were already enough sunbeams in the family and to go on about my business, he didn’t mind me much the way I was” (108). This plays a big role for Scout because it gives her freedom to be a tom boy if she wants, and not have the idea of feminine forced upon her and that if she did act in a way of feminine, it would not be expected to become a part of her everyday character. This helps her have space to be herself and figure herself out to be the character we see at the end of the

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1099 Words | 5 Pages

Scout said, “"Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants. 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. I suggested that one could be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well, but Aunty said that one had to behave like a sunbeam, that I was born good but had grown progressively worse every year...." (108). This quote illustrates how Scout pushes against gender stereotypes, and this is the root of conflicts between her and Aunt Alexandra.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

Scout is told by Alexandra what is expected of southern women. Furthermore, Jem says to Scout “you’re gettin’ more like a girl every day”(Lee 58). Jem judges girls like they are annoying and pesky, even though Scout, who only this once was similar to this effect, is also a girl. Aunt Alexandra and her group represent what Scout so desperately goes against. Alexandra constantly pesters Scout about becoming more like what is expected of her as a southern woman.

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1499 Words | 6 Pages

To explain her sudden appearance at their home, Aunt Alexandra states, “‘We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. It won’t be many years, Jean Louise, before you become interested in clothes and boys’... I could have made several answers to this… but I kept quiet'' (145). Aunt Alexandra assumed– or practically declared– Scout’s future preferences, despite being aware of her tomboy tendencies.

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996 Words | 4 Pages

“Don't trade your authenticity for approval” stated an unknown author. In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird Scout is a young girl who breaks the social norm of wearing proper clothes such as dresses. In the town called Maycomb, the social norms are for whites to separate from African Americans along with women dressing a certain way and men dressing another. Those social norms don’t just exist in Maycom they are also in the real world. Ellen DeGeneres is a woman in the real world who breaks those social norms.

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531 Words | 3 Pages

Scout was more of a tomboy than a girly girl. Aunt Alexandra didn’t like how she didn’t act like a proper lady, and would ask Scout to act more ladylike. As she grew up, she was able to understand things a lot better. She began acting more grown up in situations like Aunt Alexandra’s dinner party.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

Breaking Social Norms In To Kill A Mockingbird In To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, Lee depicts the main character Scout Finch as the primary feminist who defies social norms despite several influences in Maycomb County. Scout displays her feminist qualities throughout several occurrences in the novel. She continues to stay true to herself and fights for how she desires to act, while occasionally experimenting with her femininity.

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