Social Norms In To Kill A Mockingbird

“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. Ellen has decided to make her own style and wear what she likes and some accept it and others don’t. Instead of wearing gowns and dresses she wearing suit and blazers. Ellen has become very successful being herself she now has her own T.V

Ellen and Scout both are different than others because they have a unique sense of style. Ellen states“‘I decided this was not going to be something that I was going to live the rest of my life being ashamed of”’ (Weaver, Hilary). The social norm where Ellen lives is that the girls tend to wear dresses or jeans and blouses, but Ellen likes to wear blazers and khakis. With her choosing to dress likes these people don’t always think that it's okay. This is a quote of Ellen choosing to be her despite all of the people who don’t like it and that she doesn't care what they think and she is just going to live her life the best she can and however she wants. “I could not possibly hope to breathe; when I said I can’t do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (108) says Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird. When Scout says that, she is talking about her Aunt Alexandra who is one of the people who follow the social norms where Scout isn’t. Scout Finch is also a person who has a different wardrobe than all of the women in the town. Scout likes to wear pants or overalls which isn’t accepted in Maycomb, Alabama. Thus, another example of Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird and Ellen Degeneres break social