How Does Lee Present The Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee clearly shows the gender roles present during the time of the Great Depression in To Kill a Mockingbird. As the characters progress and Jem and Scout grow up, more signs of gender discrimination are present. It starts with Jem picking on Scout for being scared. When Scout is afraid to retrieve the tire, Jem says, “I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it’s mortifyin’” (42). Acting like a girl in this case means to be scared and weak, whereas the boys were expected to be strong and brave. The stereotype is that women are all delicate and tender-hearted. That summer, Scout was made to play the boring parts of the plays they performed. She claims that she “reluctantly played assorted ladies who entered the script” (44). The boys did not allow her to play fun parts such as Tarzan, because she was a girl. The readers are able to sense the derogatory connotations that come along with being a women in those days; they were hated and seen as

Though Scout is only a young child, she smashes these stereotypes to pieces, and she does not even realize it due to her innocence. All Scout knows is that she is a person just like everyone else around her. She plays with Jem and Dill outside all summer long and takes part in their games even though she is a girl. Females were seen as soft spoken as well, but the readers can clearly see that Scout is not afraid to say whatever she is thinking. At one point, Jem and Dill try to shoo Scout away from the yard while they were playing a game, but Scout replied to Jem and said, “will not. This yard’s as much mine as it is yours, Jem Finch. I got just as much right to play in it as you have” (51). To stand up in the face of discrimination is something that women did not necessarily do in those days. She refused to abide by the rapidly-forming, demeaning prejudice against her