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Self-Identity In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

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Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout Finch embarks on a journey of self-identity in Maycomb, Alabama. Harper Lee allows readers an insight view of the protagonist Scout Finch through the use of first-person narrative. Throughout her journey in the southern racist town of Maycomb, Alabama, Scout grapples with gender norms, prejudice, familial conflict, and societal conflict that shape her into the woman she becomes at the end of the novel. Scout is seen as a tomboy throughout the novel that often plays with her brother Jem and his friends. In the 1930s southern town women were to be very feminine in their day-to-day lives and girls were to be dressed properly and act ladylike. However, Scout did not believe in acting ladylike, she seemed …show more content…

She learns about the prejudices of her town when her father begins to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Up until the case began, Scout had been unaware of the racism that lived in her community. Atticus had been assigned the case because no other lawyer in the town would take it due to the defendant’s colored skin. Atticus uses this case to build Jem and Scout’s moral views as they become individuals. Scout asks her father if he is going to win his case and he states, “Simply because we were licked a hundred years before we started is no reason for us not to try and win.” (Lee 87). Atticus is trying to explain to Scout that due to the town’s prejudices against African Americans, Tom Robinson was guilty when he was first accused. The societal issue addressed in To Kill a Mockingbird was when Tom Robinson was found guilty of the rape of Mayella Ewell, and killed shortly after escaping prison. Tom Robinson was a black male who had an injured left arm and Mayella was hit on the right side of her face, making him instantly non-guilty. The societal issue of racism ties together with Atticus’s family’s

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In the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee talks about discrimination based on gender role, age, and skin color. The characters in this book all have different personalities that influences others. Maycomb, Alabama in 1930’s is where everything happened with slavery and struggling with being poor. The characters Scout, Jem, and Dill had a strong bond and had lots of courage. Shows that justice means other things to other people.

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The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee follows the childhood of Scout Finch. Scout grew up living in Maycomb, Alabama along with her brother Jem and her father Atticus. In the midst of her childhood Atticus was called upon to represent Tom Robinson, a black man living in Maycomb who was accused of raping a girl named Mayella Ewell. During this time Scout and her family had many hardships due to the towns criticism while doing the right thing and helping an innocent man. In the novel, Harper Lees’ use of tone helped to develop the central idea, which is the importance of having a moral compass.

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The Mistreatment of Tom Robinson Tom Robinson was a falsy accused man, all because of the community's biased opinion. Tom Robinson’s court case was shown in the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Tom Robinson, was accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. Since the town of Maycomb thinks all African Americans are harmful, it is nearly impossible for him to win this court case. Even though the evidence did not line up to where it could not possibly be Tom, he still lost.

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Additionally, from other people’s perspective, Atticus has lost, his innocence because of him defending a Negro. However, it is not true because Atticus is a lawyer and he is doing his job without criticizing him. This incident made Scout ask Atticus that if it is right to defend a Negro. By this, Scout is able to gain the ability to look from new perspectives on how the world works in very early age compared to her brother, Jem and other children. Secondly, Jem is not completely disillusion until a guilty verdict is returned to Tom Robinson at the end of his trial.

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In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson faces situations where he is treated differently only because he is of a different race than mostly everyone else in the town of Maycomb. Tom Robinson is a black man who was accused for raping a white woman and was then put on trial for this accusation which had also lasted for a few hours. Tom was later found guilty, later on he was shot for trying to escape prison and then died. Tom Robinson faces racism when he is accused of a crime and when the people of Maycomb called his death “typical.” Mayella Ewell argues that Tom Robinson had raped her.

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Scout and Jem are forced to deal with racial slurs and insults because of Atticus ' role in the trial. Scout has a very difficult time not physically fighting with other children due to this. Tom is asfsd to be guilty, even after Atticus proves that Tom did not commit the crime. Atticus unintentionally offends Bob Ewell, the father whose daughter is accusing Tom.

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In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s behavior, clothing, and activities are in direct contrast to the traditional expectations of girls in Maycomb. Scout Finch’s behavior contradicts the accepted practices of women of her time.

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Scout, a young, intelligent girl, soon finds out the truth about one of her biggest fears. “To Kill A Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, takes place in the 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama. Throughout the novel, it shows off the differences between families in the town and how other people have been brought up. It also focuses on the horribleness of racism that goes on throughout the town. The story is narrated by a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, she gains the nickname Scout because she is very observant and picks up things quickly.

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In Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Scout, a young girl, is majorly influenced by her community and the people around her. The reader learns about characters, settings, social dynamics, and more throughout chapters one to eleven. Scout balances being in an identity crisis, doing well in school, and learning to be a woman all simultaneously. In the early chapters of the narrative, Scout struggles with figuring out who she wants to become. She was told numerous times to “stop acting like a girl,” by her older brother, Jem, and his friend, Dill.

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Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that show the life of a southern state od Alabama during the “black racism” time period, where majority of the people had the mentality that (quote) with the exception of a few. To chosen to portray it from the eyes of Scout Finch, from a child’s point of view. Living in Maycomb, in the midst of a conservative society of the 1930’s and 20’s Southern America Scout Finch is an extra ordinary child.

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Women wearing dresses, men with huge muscles. These gender roles have been around since what seems like the dawn of time. To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee explores the reality of gender roles in the 1930’s. Atticus Finch lives in Maycomb, Alabama with his two children Jean Louise nicknamed “Scout” and Jem. Atticus is a lawyer who is defending a black man, named Tom Robinson, in a rape case.

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A novel of civil right struggle Harper Lee's only novel got her a Pulitzer Prize, this novel has sold over 30 million copies, it’s a integrated in the U.S. high schools educational system, and has been given the name of “our national novel” by Oprah Winfrey. According to the BBC, the amount of appeal this book has it beyond boundaries, beating the way the Bible (although not Pride and Prejudice) to come in fifth in a British poll for World Book Day. Among British librarians, it was the number one book they would advise. As Megan Behrent alleged while reviewing the novel in her article:” A novel of the civil rights struggle”; published in the Socialist Worker in August 5, 2010, it is as an anti-racial novel of the civil rights movement, with

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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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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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