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To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Inequality Analysis

1227 Words5 Pages

“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persists in our world, none of us can truly rest” - Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela is saying that we are all responsible for the issues that occur in our society. Furthermore, he is saying that we can't stop fighting against the issues until they are all gone. Issues in society often occur because hierarchies can cause inequality and leave people at a disadvantage. This can be seen in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee which is a coming of age story where Scout, a nine year old girl begins to recognize gender inequality. Similarly in Bifocal by Deborah Ellis and Eric Walters, a Persian boy named Haroon begins to experience racism because he appears the be Muslim. Finally, in the East Los …show more content…

One example of this can be seen when the main character, Scout, is influenced greatly by the gender roles that occurs in her society; the town of Maycomb. Scout is the daughter of a lawyer, Atticus, is a tomboy, and the family has an African American maid named Calpurnia. As seen in To Kill a Mockingbird, “She [Calpurnia] seemed glad to see me when I appeared in the kitchen, and by watching her I began to there was some skill involved in being a girl.” (Pg. 154) Scout feels that in order to be a girl it means that you spend your time doing things like cooking. She feels this way because of the hierarchy that occurs in Maycomb. In this hierarchy, white men are at the top, they have jobs and are the one who provide for the family. They are then followed by white women on the hierarchy who cook and spend their time being lady like. As a result, the women and girls in Maycomb feel that this is they way they need to act. Even a person like Scout who is confident in her identity feels the pressure to change who she truly is. This significant because it shows that hierarchies in society can cause people to change who they truly

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Gender Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

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One example is gender inequality. A demonstration of this is when Scout describes a dress as a prison. She says “I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary(Lee 138). The comparison of a dress to a prison refers to gender inequality. A prison could be defined as limiting, and though the dress itself is not forbidding Scout to do as she pleases, it still keeps her in confinement.

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To Kill A Mockingbird Gender Roles Essay

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Social Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

1067 Words | 5 Pages

How does Harper Lee vividly capture the effects of racism and social inequality on the citizens of Maycomb county in ‘To kill a mockingbird’? In the novel, ‘To kill a mockingbird’, Harper Lee conveys the theme of racism and social inequality by setting up the story in Maycomb, a small community in Alabama, the U.S back in 1930s. Lee presents some of the social issues of 1930s such as segregation and poverty in the novel. These issues are observed and examined through the innocent eyes of a young girl, Scout, the narrator.

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Discrimination In To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

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In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, undoubtedly there is more than one type of discrimination displayed. Before we get into that, what exactly is discrimination? Well, to discriminate means to treat someone differently based on what they believe, their age, gender, who they love, even their appearance. The forms that I will be talking about are Sexism, (Prejudice actions based on gender) Racism, (Prejudice actions based on race) classism, (Prejudice actions on those of a different social class) and discrimination on those with a disability.

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Social Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird Analysis

1108 Words | 5 Pages

Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird famously said in his closing arguments: "You know the truth, and the truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some negro men are not to be trusted around women- black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and no particular race of men." (pg 232) What Atticus is trying to convey is a foreign concept to most people in Maycomb county. Atticus is trying to convey a point of equality and no prejudice in a world of social inequality which, as one can imagine, didn 't go over so well.

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He wants Scout to change who she is to fit his idea of what being a woman is about. In Jem’s mind, women and girls should not be opinionated and “rough”, they must be feminine and frail.

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Theme Of Gender Inequality In To Kill A Mockingbird

849 Words | 4 Pages

One such example is a common stereotypical female role, the cook. Some instances of this included when Francis, Scout and Jem’s cousin, repeats what his grandma says, “...That all men should learn to cook...be careful with their wifes and wait on ‘em when they don’t feel good”(68). This implies two things, that men should learn to cook along with the women, but that they should only cook when the women is not able too. Thus, the women has to cook every time unless she is sick. Another smaller example of this is when Scout is talking with Francis about his grandma teaching him how to cook ,Scout responds with, “‘Boys don’t cook.’

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