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Scout Finch Sexism

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As individuals in today’s society, we are privileged to not have to endure the prevalent societal differences and sexism that the characters in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, must. The readers, lead by the protagonist, Scout Finch, can truly begin to identify with her observance and simultaneous acceptance and defiance of gender roles. Evidently, Scout grows up with prominent gender roles impacting and influencing her opinion on how each gender “should” and “should not” behave, but when it comes to her behaviour, she does as she pleases. When Scout converses with her male cousin, Francis, about cooking, she laughs upon hearing his uncommon interest of the pastime. To justify her laughter, she retorts, “Boys don’t cook” …show more content…

The jobs that are considered more impactful, such as judges or lawyers, have men filling those positions. This goes to show that the driven women in this time period are redundant objects. When Scout attends her first year of elementary school, she has a female teacher, Miss Caroline; who is introduced in chapter 2. This is the book’s overture on female adults (besides Calpurnia) who do more than sit at home, presumably waiting on their husbands. Miss Caroline teaches basic concepts to young children and that is partly because primary students do not learn complex theories, so hiring an incompetent female teacher would not be a significant problem. Jobs that require extensive knowledge and years of post-secondary education are occupied by men. Scout catches this when she makes a mental remark on how all the courthouse judges are “amiable, white-haired, slightly ruddy faced [men]” (220). The point is, women are not treated as equals, as people even. They are used as a last resort to do the simple work that men wish to be relieved from. The town of Maycomb, Alabama is blatantly inclined to choose men over women and this was not an uncommon choice in the 30s. To a certain extent, Harper Lee was way ahead of her time with this novel; bravely addressing sexism in a manner that was in

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Another way Scout has changed since the beginning of the book is she understands people have both good and bad qualities that coexist within them, as she becomes closer to an adult and encounters evil in the world. 20. Miss Gates’ lesson to the class about Hitler’s prosecution of Jew’s is ironic, because she herself came out of the courthouse after the trial ended and responded by telling Miss Stephanie Crawford that “it was about time that someone taught them a lesson” when referring to the blacks in the town. It reveals that most people during that time where racist and prejudice to some extent in Maycomb. An example that is similar in our current society portrayed in this chapter is how white males get paid the highest salary, but people of other races and women get paid lower salaries for

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Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird was set in the southern states of America during the interwar period, a place and period of time where racism and sexism were predominant. This story highlights the plight of those that acted out against the dominant ideology. Some brave people began to speak and act upon what they believed in no matter what society said. A few women began to speak up which was very uncommon. Miss Maudie Atkinson, Calpurnia, and Scout Finch showed very strong characteristics.

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1119 Words | 5 Pages

In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County in the late 1930s, where characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will experience prejudice Maycomb brings during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin, and class. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and they all contribute to how events play out in the small town. Many of those in Maycomb face and express sexism, racial discrimination, and classism their whole lives. This disables the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace.

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Lee shoes the coming of age through children in a book that has innocence and many important life lessons. These coming of age moments are important to know about since they shape who we are. They show that kids believe what they grow up hearing from their parents and seeing from someone else’s shoes. Harper lee is trying to show that kids are innocent but as they grow up, they look at the world for what it really is and realize that people are unfair and you can’t do anything about

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1177 Words | 5 Pages

Breaking Away Even though Letty Cottin Pogrebin, an American author and social activist, recently stated, “When men are oppressed, it’s a tragedy. When women are oppressed it’s tradition,” in recent times, women decades ago experienced even greater prejudice (Deborah, Golda, and Me). In Harper Lee’s 1930s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee discusses the tradition of inequality between men and women. The protagonist and narrator, Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, lives in a time when women are expected to be perfect Southern ladies.

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1019 Words | 5 Pages

Literature can be analyzed with many different critical lenses. While analyzing To Kill a Mockingbird, one may use a critical lens to recognize the different ideas throughout the novel. Harper Lee’s novel demonstrates her perspective on intolerance and discrimination within the early twentieth century. Firstly, intolerance of people who are different is very prevalent within the novel.

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Central Christian Academy The World of World War Two Teagan Grosvenor Writing Seminar Mrs. Zuercher May 11, 2023 World War Two was an era of time when there was tension in our world, that built until one day in 1939, when it all exploded. World World Two has a rich history that led up to some of our most advanced technological advantages. We learned a great amount from our mistakes and our victories through that period of time.

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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

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Life is overfilled with messages, like weeds in a sea in unmaintained grass. Whether it’s warning a person, or pointing out a flaw; these little lessons are there to further grow the positive parts of that person’s personality. A simple demonstration of this is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. An old, children’s book serving no meaningingful purpose is what it may seem, nevertheless, it actually is a novel that offers a unique outtake on all aspects of human life. In the book, two children Jem and Scout, who learn about equality, racism, and social class through court cases, tea parties and more.

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In the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee, the author writes about what happens in the small southern town of Maycomb, in Alabama. Lee uses the influence of belief in traditions such as roles and family bonds to show that they are causes of conflict. Throughout the book, roles such as gender, age, race, and family confines characters to act, look, and even speak certain ways, causing internal, external, and family conflicts. This theme that different types of roles and family bonds are the root of conflict is developed through the use of physical setting, anti stereotype, and historical setting The author shows that Scout faces external conflicts caused by the pressure to fit into the stereotypical gender roles accustomed to girls at this time in history.

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1251 Words | 6 Pages

Racism has been a societal issue for many years in the past, and although we are taking steps in the right direction, there will probably be racism for the rest of the human race’s existence. This is represented in the town of Maycomb in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, which took place in a heightened time of racial division and discrimination. Racism is a huge issue that influences many aspects of society, such as work, family, and class. Harper Lee portrays the theme of racism in To Kill a Mockingbird through the speech and actions of her characters and imaginative symbolism. Aunt Alexandra and Francis are characters that think they are more worthy because they are white.

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803 Words | 4 Pages

“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.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

Ultimately, Scout overcomes the social norms placed upon women when she punches Francis in the face, picks a fight with Cecil Jacobs and chooses to spend most of her time playing with Jem and Dill. First and foremost, Scout escapes the restrictions imposed upon women by continuing to play with Jem and Dill instead of indulging herself in learning how to cook or drinking tea with other women. Although she will sometimes sit with Calpurnia in the kitchen and drink tea with her aunt

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106 Words | 1 Pages

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.

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849 Words | 4 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird suggests that women should be able to have equal opportunities to men. Through Scout’s tomboyish attitude,Harper Lee is able to highlight to wrongs in forcing a girl to

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