To Kill a Mockingbird Essay In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, otherwise known as Scout, struggles to fit into a society that strongly complies to gender roles. Scout is reprimanded by other members of her community because she strays from a feminine image that she is expected to maintain. Throughout the novel Scout learns how society views women and she decides to disregard societal expectations. The theme of femininity is not only expressed through…
Words 867 - Pages 4
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee portrays evident themes of racism, familial love, justice, and compassion. One of the lesser discussed themes, however, is femininity. In the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is determined to embrace her tomboy side for a great deal of time as she grows up, fearing any type of femininity. She seems defiant and set against maturing into a beautiful young woman. In her mind, boys get to have all of the fun, and girls are destined to wear dresses and do…
Words 378 - Pages 2
To Kill a Mockingbird was written in the 1940’s, which was the prime of social inequality. Social Inequality is the most relevant issue but is still overlooked majorly. In Harper Lee’s Novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Social Inequality was shown through the novel numerous times. This book had social inequalities from gender to class to race. Harper Lee talks about gender throughout her novel. Scout lost her mother at an early age, but does not fret over the lack of femininity. Her Aunt Alexandra does…
Words 1093 - Pages 5
ENG2D 22 April 2014 To Kill a Mockingbird We will never be able to measure the full effects that prejudice has on society. Realistically, it is very difficult for people to admit where they have gone wrong. Most people judge others daily by how they dress, talk, and look, most of the time without knowing it. Prejudice has an immense impact on who it is directed at; and yes, it is possible for prejudice to be lessened, but it will never be eliminated. In To Kill a Mockingbird, author Harper Lee illustrates…
Words 1050 - Pages 5
Gender is also a leading bias in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout becomes angry towards being called a “girl,” taking the word as a curse. Because Aunt Alexandra was staying with Scout, Scout realizes she must obey her aunt’s rules. “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,” (Lee 138). This quote expresses Scout’s emotion towards femininity. Scout mentions how being a girl is like a prison that keeps…
Words 137 - Pages 1
Prejudice is the irrational suspicion and hatred of a social group, usually towards race. Evidently, the social hierarchy upon which we build society promotes hate and injustice. In Harper Lee’s depression era novel To Kill a Mockingbird, she illustrates the different types of mindsets of the southern people of Maycomb County, Alabama. In the early 1930’s, unemployment and poverty were spreading quickly during the years of the Depression and the quality of living had dropped substantially. Maycomb…
Words 1437 - Pages 6
Someone Has to Wear the Pants Although feminism is a modern term, female characters in literature have shown these qualities throughout time. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, tells a story about a single father raising a boy and a girl during the 1930’s in Maycomb, Alabama. The main character, Jean Louise Finch, also known as "Scout," narrates the story of her childhood, growing up with a brother and another boy during a time when women were expected to be polite and feminine at…
Words 758 - Pages 4
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout and Jem were trying to find themselves and are observing the world around them. In a quote from the book, Jem says “It’s time you start bein’ a girl and actin’ right” (154. Chap. 12). Scout’s struggles include growing up without a mother…
Words 912 - Pages 4
are also essential to the plot. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee took time to thoroughly describe and give life to her characters. The historical fiction novel follows the maturity and growth of the protagonist, Scout Finch, as she grasps the racial injustices of her town and learns to treat everyone with empathy and equality, no matter who they are. Although in most novels there is one clear hero, in To Kill a Mockingbird, the three most prominent heroes are Atticus, Arthur…
Words 1286 - Pages 6
literature has often exposed this struggle, illuminating the plight of those groups who had to wait patiently for full acceptance. Author Harper Lee ranks highly among those authors whose work has served a greater social purpose. Her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, confirms the injustices of the male-dominated, racist culture of the pre-Civil Rights American South. Lee presents her protagonist, Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, as a tomboy who is confused…
Words 1880 - Pages 8