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Social Norms In To Kill A Mockingbird

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“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 …show more content…

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

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One example of Jim Crow etiquette norms in To Kill A Mockingbird is that a black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman. If he did, he would be accused of rape. Tom Robinson is accused of raping Mayella Ewell because Mr.Ewell saw him touch his daughter. Since nobody wants to go around the Ewells and the Ewells do whatever they want, Atticus is fighting for the defendant, but knows that the result will still be the same. Later on in the book, we find out that Mr.Ewell abuses his daughter.

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One other way that Ellen changed in the book was that she gained courage before and after the mission. In the beginning of the book Ellen did not have enough courage to stand up to Dicey near the water pump. On page 26 after Dicey was making fun of Ellen and telling her to go to another water pump. Dicey said”Get your water out of the gutter!”. Ellen

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Ellen knows and is determined that she deserves better than the terrible living conditions under where she is suffering. The determination strengthens Ellens will to overcome the misery as she knows she can’t help herself. Racial identities is also a major theme in this book. Throughout the book, Ellen struggles to find her place between racial problems that have been made in her by society. “Sometimes I even think I was cut out to be colored and I got bleached and sent to the wrong bunch of folks.”

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(Gibbons 98) Ellen has now set a goal for herself, she wants the foster mother to take her in, she will do anything to impress her, by showing how well behaved and clean she is. She is going to try her best. Comparatively children her age would not be worrying about dressing the best, and acting the most well behaved, because they have their parents to take care of them, but this is a huge deal for Ellen because it will make a big difference of how she will live. This puts Ellen ahead of the rest of her peers.

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To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is the story of a small town named Maycomb Located in Alabama, highlighting the adventures of the finch children and many other people in the small town. The people in this town are very judgemental and of each other and it often leads to people being labeled with stereotypes and people think they know everything about that person however that is not reality. It is not possible to know the reality of a person 's life by placing a stereotype without seeing it through their own eyes and experiencing the things they experience. This happens often throughout the story with many people in the town. People are labeled as many things such a “monster” a “nigger” and many other things that seem to put them in their

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In the novel, Ellen is in court because they are deciding where she should live since both of her parents are deceased. Ellen wants an opinion, but all she does is get talked over and ignored. Sitting in the courtroom Ellen says, “I was in my seat frustrated like when my teacher makes a mistake on the chalkboard, and it will not do any good to tell her because so quick she can erase it all and onto the next problem,” (Gibbons 56). As stated, Ellen is in court due to her living situation. She explains how she is frustrated much like if a teacher were to make a mistake on the board and not know, but erase it too quickly to understand.

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Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the Social prejudice is discrimination based on your status in society. An example of social prejudice would be the Radley family, which consists of Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley. As they haven’t been out of their house in years people are lead to believe the rumours.

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Cultural norms are what make and shape a society. They are the guidelines, and or patterns, that are to be followed, in order to be considered a normal, typical, everyday citizen. As such, it does not matter if the norms are right or wrong. As long as the citizen is still a part of their society, right and wrong does not matter, as far as they are concerned. In the case of To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the cultural norm, of Maycomb County, embraces the wrong, in the form of extreme prejudice behavior.

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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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Jem deliberates on the court case and begins to draw conclusions about life that only a mature person could draw. “‘That's what I thought, too,’ he said at last, ‘when I was your age. If there's just one kind of folks, why can't they get along with each other? If they're all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something.

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These two examples show the conflicts caused by gender stereotypes, and how Scout goes against

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The novel To Kill a Mockingbird is so titled because there are several characters in the story which could be consisted mockingbirds. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley do not cause any harm, they go about their business without interfering in the lives of others, and however both of them are in turn harmed by the citizens of Maycomb. Harper Lee’s novel examines the dark side of human nature and explores the ramifications of prejudice, racism and bigotry in a time when people were openly hostile to anyone they considered different and inferior. Lee tells her story to highlight the injustices of the South during a time of inequality, discrimination, where the innocent are unfairly punished. Tom Robinson a character in the novel is accused of something

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In spite of Scout’s inability to fully comprehend the significance of what Atticus is doing for Tom, she readies herself to defend Atticus, which ultimately portrays that she does not regard society’s expectations on how she should

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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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Symbolism, as used in this movie, added a large amount of depth to the movie and individual scenes. The most prominent example of this can be seen with the depiction of Ellen. Throughout the movie the costuming and makeup used by Lily Collins in her portrayal of Ellen reflects the status of Ellen’s mental and physical health. In many scenes where Ellen creates strong relationships, she is dressed in bright clothes and has makeup that brings out her features making her look more attractive. Contrary though, in scenes where Ellen takes a step back her clothes become drab and layered.

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