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To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Analysis

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In Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” there is a clear gender bias that is shown through the treatment of the main character: a young girl named Scout. Scout is discriminated for being a girl by her brother, Jem, but she remains true to herself, connecting to the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling. Scout enjoys being herself, but her Aunt Alexandra scolds her for not being more like a lady and following society’s norms, which can also be compared to the poem. Furthermore, Scout is forced to grow up and act like a woman at such a young age due to the other women around her wanting her to be mature as a lady should, similar to the poem “Youth and Age” by Samuel Coleridge. In the novel, the way Scout is treated as a young girl by the people in Maycomb …show more content…

In the story, the majority of the women in Maycomb, especially friends of Aunt Alexandra, want her to follow the way the rest of the girls in town act. Most of these women know Scout and are quite fond of her. Nonetheless, adoring the young girl would not stop them from trying to conform her to gender roles. One of the ladies says to her, “Well, you won’t get very far until you start wearing dresses more often” (Lee 308). This implies she is trying to convince Scout to wear dresses, which most of the women in Maycomb do. They want her to age too quickly, and cut her childhood short when she has plenty of time left to grow up. They do not want her to be playful and surround herself with rowdy boys all day, and instead they want her to spend her time with the older women in town. Converting quickly to adulthood connects with the poem “Youth and Age” by Samuel Coleridge, which contains many lines that can be compared to Scout. The narrator in the poem, similar to Scout, seems to have aged too soon and forced out of their youth. The poem simply states, “Youth’s no longer here!” (Coleridge). Scout would be able to resonate with this because her childhood is fading as the women around her are driving her to be a woman when she is only in elementary school. She does not want to do this because she loves being a child, but she puts in a little effort to make these ladies happy. Thus proving how the women in Scout’s life influence her to fulfill the expectations of being a girl in Maycomb, only because that’s what the social norms

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These things are seen as Scout ages in the form of her dirty overalls, her way of behavior and attitude towards others, and her maturity level. Girls are often expected to act more “ladylike” which forces them to mature much more quickly than others could. It is this exact idea that causes Scout to lash out and be more aggressive than a “lady” would be. “Jem was scowling triumphantly. “Nothin’ to it.

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Scout is very obviously dedicated to her brother Jem. He often criticizes her for “Acting like a girl”. For this reason Scout grows up far away from the typical way daughters are raised. She plays outside in the dirt, dresses in overalls, and hates dressing like a typical lady. Scout’s very slight change into a lady is majorly affected by her own Aunt Alexandra.

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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 is often found defying gender roles, so she’s very upset when Jem mocks her saying, “ Scout, I'm tellin’ you for the last time, shut your trap or go home- I declare to the Lord, your gettin’ more like a girl everyday!” (Lee 119). Scout then feels obligated to oblige in order to fit in . She then refrains from

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