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Southern Womanhood In To Kill A Mockingbird

857 Words4 Pages

Michael McEvoy
June 6, 2017
Orange
Mr.Brady A Finch’s Eyeview To Kill A Mockingbird, the classic novel written in 1960 attempts to show people in the North that not all of the South is a racist horrible place and the novel depicts the author, Harper Lee, and her family as they witness racism in the courtroom first hand. The novel shows the common themes Harper experienced as a child. Southern womanhood, racism, and appearance versus reality. TKM, the 1962 film, depicts the novel on the big screen rather than through writing. Overall the film was a decent attempt at the remake of the book however it fell short in some crucial aspects, such as southern womanhood and appearance versus reality, and flat out changed the novel’s depiction of …show more content…

One of these women is her aunt, Alexandra. Alexandra tries to turn scout, a very tomboyish girl, into her idea of what a southern woman should be. Scout does not like the idea of acting like a southern woman at first, but she quickly begins to believe that it is more important than she originally thought. "[Calpurnia] seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl."(Lee 154). In the film however, this theme was diminished as aunt Alexandra was not in the film and Maudie’s role was minimized. These two important characters being removed from the film decimates the importance of southern womanhood and almost completely ostracizes this theme from the …show more content…

In the novel one of the biggest components of appearance versus reality is Dolphus Raymond the white man who lives with the black people. To the County, Dolphus Raymond is always drinking out of a paper bag and can't think straight due to his alcoholism. For this reason, the townspeople give him a pass on his lifestyle choices. His partner is black women and the two have children together. Little does everyone know, that in the bag it is a coca-cola bottle. "I try to give 'em a reason, you see....They could never, never understand that I live like I do because that's the way I want to live."(Lee 268). Another example of appearance versus reality in TKM is "Boo" Radley. There are tons of rumors about "Boo" Radley in the town of Maycomb. To Jem, Boo is a scary monster and due to "Boo’s" interesting home situation he is a mystery to everyone in the town. "Boo Radley is actually a kind, caring, and gentle person. He only means to do good. For example, the fire scene in the book when "Boo" puts the blanket around scout. Another example of "Boo" being a kind person occurs when Mr. Ewell attacks Jem and Scout and "Boo" saves them. "I looked down and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket I was wearing around my shoulders, squaw fashion." (Lee 95). Overall, "Boo" is the opposite of what people think he is. In the movie however, Dolphus Raymond is absent and the only

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After Scout makes it back Atticus asks her what happened, and she tells him about how they were attacked and someone saved them and brought Jem back. Now in the room with Jem on the Bed Atticus asks Scout who carried Jem back and she point behind the door to where Boo Radley is seen standing there. In this moment the reader realizes that Boo is not mean or scary in any way and is just a man who is misunderstood by

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He is a moral person who saves two innocent lives by ending a guilty one. Out of the good of his heart, he defends Jem and Scout, killing Bob Ewell as he does so. Boo means well and has the safety of Atticus’s children in his highest regard. He does nothing with bad intentions. Like a mockingbird, Boo does not do anything wrong.

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In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley is a character that is mysterious, but proves himself to be caring and kind with the way he treats Scout and Jem Finch. He is the subject of rumor, framing him as insane and violent by the people of Maycomb because he never leaves his home, when in reality he is just lonely. As Dill puts it, when asked why he doesn’t try to leave, “Maybe he doesn’t have anywhere to run off to.”(192). Throughout the novel, he watches over and goes out of his way to show Jem and Scout that he cares about them by leaving them trinkets in the knot hole of a tree or attempting to fix a hole in a pair of Jem’s pants. The theme that he represents is being a mockingbird.

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He had to stoop a little to accommodate me, but if Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching from her upstairs window, she would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as a gentleman would do.” (Lee 372.) This clearly demonstrates the theme by the kindness and innocence he shows when he asks Scout to walk him home. Scout finally sees Boo as more than a person, but a mockingbird, when she calls him “Mr. Arthur” and “Sir.” As shown, To Kill A Mockingbird develops the character Boo as a metaphor for a Mockingbird using how his image is based on lies and rumors, his caring heart when he puts a blanket around Scout’s shoulders, and his kind heart when he leaves presents for Jem and Scout and saves them from Bob

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