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To Kill A Mockingbird Age Analysis

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“Everybody’s gotta learn. Nobody’s born knowin’” -Harper Lee. Age alters our perspective. Maturity changes our understanding. This sentiment is echoed in Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The timeless novel tells the tale of the Finch family and the residents of their town in the southern county of Maycomb. A tale of racism, sexism, coming of age, and small town prejudice is woven through the youthful perspective of the fiery tomboy, Scout Finch. She lives her life under the wise guidance of her father, Atticus Finch, and the with the wavering companionship of her brother, Jem. As Scout matures and experiences new things in life, her view and her awareness of life issues evolves, specifically her awareness of gender.
In the beginning of the novel, Scout’s view of gender is abstract and she is not yet concretely aware of the societal role she is expected to fulfill. She plays rough, and isn’t concerned with femininity. Her Aunt Alexandra insists on staying with the Finch family in order to teach Scout to …show more content…

There is a lot of tension in Maycomb. Tom has just been shot. Despite the circumstances, Scout stays calm and rational. “After all, if aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I” (318). This is the point at which there is clarity. Scout fully understands and embodies the complexity of being a “lady.” There are definite downsides, customs that are unjust and silly, but there is also an admirable amount of strength that a lady must possess. Scout has finally come to terms with her gender.
Through the slowly maturing eyes of Scout Finch, Lee is able to convey the simultaneous complexity and simplicity of the major issues of our world, such as sexism and gender roles. In childhood, Scout perceives gender in the most innocent manner; she wishes to be who she is, and to do as she pleases. Gender does not affect her. But as she ages, she becomes aware of the inevitable burden of being a

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“After all, if aunty could be a lady at times, so could I” (Lee, 318). Scout was a tomboy because there was mostly boy in her life there was no girls in her life to show her what being a girl is like. Once aunt alexandra cAME her daily life she was showing scout what is what like to be a girl she needed aunt alexandra to show her what it would be like to wear a dress. though mostly having males influenced in her daily life, scout only needs one permanent role model to show her what becoming a lady signifies.

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Scout’s narration as an adult and having an adult perspective on a year of her childhood shows the reader how her character was changed and grew from these experiences. Her self-reflection tells the reader that Scout has come to see her father as a great man who works for justice and how she is a better person for it despite being raised in a small, racist, southern

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Another reason why Scout’s saviour is Atticus is related with her acknowledgement over the superficiality and restrictions of being a Southern female, for example when Mrs. Dubose tells Scout: “You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! You 'll grow up waiting on tables if somebody doesn 't change your ways ...” (page 135; To Kill a Mockingbird). Meaning that if Scout does not ‘woman’ up she will forever be rejected. This quote is one of many illustrations in the novel where our narrator communicates to us Lee 's criticism of Southern women and their ignorance concerning gender roles.

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Aside from learning about her fellow citizens of Maycomb, Scout also had to start to protect herself, and her father from their neighbors and classmates. The atmosphere of discrimination towards the black defendant, and hatred towards their father, caused many uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous situations for the Finch Family. When Scout is confronted by her uncle Jack about a fight between Herself and her classmate, Scout responds “-tell you one thing right now, Uncle Jack, I’ll be-- I swear before God if I’ll sit there and let him say something about Atticus.” (114) This quote explains how she had to protect her father, and she could not just stand around and let him say malicious things about Atticus. Those actions were very brave of Scout, but she did not stop there.

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Scout proves that adversity strengthens an individual by taking difficult events and giving them a positive outcome, resulting in her becoming a mature adolescent. From the beginning to the end of the novel, Scout blossoms from an innocent young child to a sophisticated young lady. She undergoes situations that she would not have known how to handle when she was younger. Learning to walk away from minor as well as major things has helped Scout take on the adversities she faced in a positive way. Scout demonstrates that when an individual endures hardship, it’s possible to have a constructive outcome and transition into a stronger and maturer being.

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Scout then began to realize that the town of Maycomb isn’t what she had it out to be. Evil things happen, moreover, people have numerous sides to themselves. Ultimately, Scout becomes a mature, young adult with

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On the surface Maycomb County might seem like quiet, nice place to live, but deeper into the town hidden identities are discovered, courage is needed, and the maturation of characters is crucial to unearthing the truth about life in the 1930s. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, readers learn about a small town named Maycomb County and the struggles that occur within it. During the Great Depression and a peak of Southern racism, readers met the main character Scout. Scout, a girl ages six to nine, narrates this story for years and the happenings in the town. Years pass and different incidents arise including a court case about rape, a mean old neighbor, and the mysterious man next door.

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This is just one example of Scout somewhat challenging traditional gender roles. We see many cases of her doing this throughout the story. Scout was not afraid to pummel Cunningham even though he was a boy. Talking to Jem and Dill, Scout said, “‘Will not. This yard’s as much mine as it is yours, Jem Finch.

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Scout wanted to act like a girl, but her friends wanted her to act like the old Scout. This instance is where Scout had to make the decision that acting like a girl was not worth loosing her friends. Scout Finch made her own choices, she made them the way that she wanted them, n\ ot caring about what time it was, who she was with, and what people thought of her. She did things for her.

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(Chapter 23). Scout also feels pressured to act like a “proper” girl, which she finds frustrating. But even though she faces tough times, Scout’s curiosity and strength help her learn important lessons about fairness and

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Being a girl, for Scout, happens when she fails to live up to Jem's standards of what a person should be. While watching Calpurnia Scout realizes that being a girl, actually, involves a lot of good things. “I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately” (14.24). Scout doesn’t like the fact she has to wear dresses and would rather wear overalls.

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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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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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In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee presents a large social atmosphere that includes many different cultures and extremes. The story takes place in the southern town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. This novel illustrates how the southerners perceived different ideas about each other and social norms. It is told through the eyes of a young girl, Scout Finch, as she is growing up and becoming influenced by societal attitudes. Throughout the course of this book Scout learns many lessons including: how a society functions, why there is conflict between different cultures, and what makes cultures different from each other.

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