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Literary analysis on to kill a mockingbird
Literary analysis on to kill a mockingbird
Literary analysis on to kill a mockingbird
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Scout’s Aunt Alexandra want her to be more like a girl and start dressing like one. " Women were treated as delicate, fragile creatures, and they were expected to act with that treatment. Scout was anything but delicate and fragile, and a good deal of the story focuses on her attempts to fit into a world that expects tomboys to wear frilly dresses and maintain a dainty disposition. Scout always like hanging with the boys and she really didn’t like wearing girl clothes.
In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, written by Harper Lee, things can change in the blink of an eye. It can go from a peaceful taciturn summer morning to all hell broken loose. And for Aunt Alexandra, change comes extremely faster then anyone would ever expect. She would be one of the most imprudent and disrespectful person anyone would know to a caring, respected person who wouldn't despise anyone by their skin or gender.
Imagine one day you wake up and many of your constitutional rights, such as the right to vote, are gone. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Sexism plays a huge role in many scenarios throughout the story. For example, a quote in the novel states, “ ‘Scout, i’m tellin’ you for the last time to shut your trap or go home- I declare to the lord you’re gettin more like a girl every day.’ With that, I had no option but to join them.”(Lee
“I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, [Alexandra] said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (Lee 67). Aunt Alexandra expects Scout to fit into the role of a woman, even at such a young age. Another example of the harsh standards placed on Scout is shown when Alexandra is having tea with her friends in chapter 24. Miss Stephanie says, “well, you won’t get very far until you start wearing dresses more often”
In the title of the book To Kill a Mockingbird, gender roles play a big part in the time that the book was written. There are many examples of people being told what they could and couldn’t do based on their gender, and insults thrown around that are gender-based. One example of gender roles in the book are Jem’s comments on Scout’s behavior, especially when Jem and Dill are about to break into the radley’s. As they are discussing it, and Scout comes up and starts pestering them about what they are doing, Jem remarks that Scout is “gettin’ more like a girl every day!” pg.
Anything Scout wants to do that she feels should not be “done by Finches” is immediately followed by a firm no. She believes that the Finches were destined to be superior than everyone else and uses that to help her beat Scout into line although whether it worked or not can be decided by us. Lee uses the contrast between Atticus and Aunt Alexandra to further show the topic of tolerance throughout the book. Aunt Alexandra is very poised and the ideal representation of southern women at that time and if we had such a bad perception of her, imagine living in a society of people filled with people like her.
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.
To kill A MockingBird Essay/ Character analysis Although there multiple interesting characters in To Kill A Mockingbird there is one that is quite fascinating. Her name is Jean Louise Finch or Scout as she is often referred to as. She is the narrator of the story and most of it comes from her point of view. Scout is a small, caucasian girl living in Maycomb County, Alabama.
In chapter nine of To Kill a Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandra is determined that Scout will act like a lady. Scout says, “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possible hope to a 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.” When scout matured more she was able to apply what she learned and use it in a life situation. At aunt Alexandria’s dinner party scout began to act more mature.
She is teaching Scout to be a lady as she grows older and matures. Society's idea of women's roles in Maycomb county remain the same through the story According to the book every lady has a job within their household. An example of this would be Aunt Alexandra doing her clubs and begging scout to come speak with the ladies rather than play outside; "Jean Louise come speak to these ladies." (Lee 134).
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.
“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” This is a quote from Atticus Finch, a courageous and wise character from Harper Lee 's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The story is told through the perspective of a young girl, Jean Louise ¨Scout¨ Finch. She lives with her older brother, Jeremy, and widowed father and prominent lawyer, Atticus, in Maycomb, Alabama during the time of the Great Depression. Throughout the novel, the children experience the injustice and prejudice of society through a tough case that their father was appointed to and are taught to respect and tolerate all people, despite their differences.
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.
Children go to school to gain knowledge, but life can give children the most important education. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Jem, and Scout are two growing children navigating life in the 1930’s in racist Alabama. They see racism throughout their town and have to navigate how they want to live their lives or follow their town. In their own school, they see racist people, and they often question what they hear, see, and learn.
Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, illustrates how women are restricted by societal expectations. Women and girls are expected to act a certain way, to be feminine and docile. After an argument between Jem and Scout, Jem goes as far to shout, “‘It’s time you started bein’ a girl and acting right!’” (Lee, 153). Jem believes that Scout should be cooperative and malleable to be a typical girl.
