...what to think.” (Margaret Mead) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a story told from the point of view of Scout Finch, a young tomboy. Her father, Atticus, is the judge for the trial of a young black man accused of raping a white girl. This trial reflects the Scottsboro Trials of the 1930s. Scout’s brother, Jem, grows up alongside her and is an influence on how she acts as she grows. Their Aunt, Alexandra, moves in to give their family a stronger “feminine influence”. Other people in Scout’s life help to develop her character over time including a old woman named Mrs. Dubose. Gender roles of society shape who we are and the development of character Scout Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird does not...
Words: 858 - Pages: 4
...Society has a collection of rules. One of those rules are the way a person should look, dress, act, etc. this is known as gender roles. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird has heaps of them. From Aunt Alexandra’s view of how a lady should look/act, to Scout saying that boys don’t cook. Scout is a character that defies these gender roles. Aunt Alexandra and Scout do not see eye to eye. Aunt Alexandra has her own idea of how a lady should look and act, and so does Scout. Alexandra is known as a lady to the women of Maycomb, she dresses nicely, and she hosts neighborhood tea parties. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I [Scout] could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a...
Words: 520 - Pages: 3
...Resisting Gender Roles “We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” Said Gloria Steinem. In Maycomb County a small fictional town, it shows a realistic reflection of 1930’s America. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Author Harper Lee introduces more complex characters by deconstructing stereotypical gender roles of the time period. This can be seen through a young tomboy named Scout, a feminized boy named Dill, and a respected housekeeper named Calpurnia. Scout is a very unusual little girl. While women are expected to be quiet and polite, Scout is quite the opposite. She doesn’t mind getting dirty or loud. And she will stop at nothing to make sure her voice is heard. "Scout, I'm tellin' you for the last time, shut your trap or go home—I declare to the Lord you're gettin' more like a girl every day!" (Lee42) When Scouts older brother Jem uses Scouts gender as an insult, the reader begins to feel conflict Scout is having with in...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
...Racism, Social Class, and Gender Issues: A Look Into 1930s Maycomb, Alabama. The film, To Kill A Mockingbird directed by Robert Mulligan, portrays a message of racism, social class, and gender issues faced by southern towns post Civil War era. The 1962 film adaptation of the classic book, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee was masterfully captured being placed on the American Film Institute’s list of greatest American movies of all time and taking home many countless awards. The black and white portrayal from text to film is exquisitely captured turning pages to picture while reveling a heartbreaking reality. Through camera, lighting, and sound Robert Mulligan creates a mood to communicate the vision of Harper Lee. The film takes place in Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Robert Mulligan illustrates the story of the lives of Scout and Jem, children growing up in this small town with their friend Dill who stays for the summer. The youngsters become infatuated with getting a glimpse of Boo Radley the unseen hermit of a neighbor. This summer also entails issues facing, their attorney father, Atticus Finch. Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, an African American man falsely accused of raping a white woman from town, Mayella Ewell. The children catch wind of the trial and for the first time witness evil realities of the world. Jem and Scout, Atticus’s children become the targets of Bob Ewell, the father of Mayella Ewell. Bob Ewell tries to kill them one Halloween night...
Words: 1097 - Pages: 5
...Society’s Impact On Growth And Understanding In her novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates how society shapes our understandings of others, but that this can be mitigated by strong role models. Scout Finch is strongly impacted by the “old traditions of the south” during her growth into womanhood and when she pushes against the stereotypes placed on her as a southerner and a young lady to find her gender identity. The beliefs of Atticus Finch and his involvement in the courtroom have had a big impact on Scout’s growth. Atticus’ beliefs were different than the beliefs of most people of Maycomb and he “bestowed a benevolent order on the Finch household by his example” which slowly shifted Scout’s views on their society’s division....
Words: 1080 - Pages: 5
...Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee discusses the effects of discrimination and the toll it takes on people. Through examples of sexism, prejudice, and racism, from the townsfolk of a small town in Alabama, she shows the readers the injustice of many. The victims of discrimination serve as the ‘mockingbirds’ of the story, as said by Atticus,“Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” (Lee, 94). In essence, this story demonstrates the loss of innocence of many, especially Scout who is affected by sexism and racism most of all. By far, one of the most evident forms of discrimination present in To Kill a Mockingbird is racism. It impacts the actions of every single character in the book and formulates...
Words: 1020 - Pages: 5
...The American Dream, the archetypal notion that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative, is an ideal that most people strive to achieve. Unfortunately, in the past and in modern day, the population that surrounds us has been propelled by conceptions such as racism and gender roles which avert us from obtaining our visions. Classic works of literature including To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and A Raisin in the Sun accurately display a lack of equality and fair treatment in the sharing of wealth and opportunities by incorporating racism and gender roles into the lives if the characters in the novels. The authors of To Kill a Mockingbird,...
Words: 979 - Pages: 4
...Ignorance in To Kill a Mockingbird Merriam-Webster defines ignorance as a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. It can cause people to reject others because they are different in some way. Because the majority of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee are poorly educated, many of them refuse to accept people because of their race, class, or gender. The ignorance within the novel contributes to the development of the conflicts throughout the book. The racial ignorance within the novel is a factor in the progression of the conflicts. It causes Tom Robinson, a young black man, to be treated unfairly during his trial. Even though there was enough evidence to prove that Robinson was innocent, he was still convicted by...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
...write stories which are a reflection of the attitudes and the norms of their time and contemporary Southern fiction reflects this. The southern part of the United States has always had a large percentage of people of African descent living there. At the beginning of the twentieth century, two states actually had an African-American majority; South Carolina and Mississippi. However, the White community was, and still is the socially and economically dominant group and this can be seen in much of Southern contemporary. Several aspects of race were explored by various authors and they include: Racist words against blacks Contemporary Southern fiction frequently contained a lot of racist words, lines and dialogue. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird,...
Words: 2565 - Pages: 11
...even though they may not realize it or know the source of their power. To Kill a Mockingbird explores the power relationship between the antagonist, Mayella Ewell, her father Bob Ewell, Tom Robinson, and the citizens in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. This story of power is told in two different perspectives of Scout Finch, as a child, and as an adult (Jean Louise Finch). To Kill a Mockingbird details a court case in which Tom Robinson is accused of rape and assault by Mayella Ewell. Scout’s father, Atticus, volunteered to defend Tom Robinson. As witnesses testify during the trial, the power relationships in Maycomb are shown. Even though Mayella was a poor (class) and dirty female (gender), she had some power because she was white (race). Because Mayella was white, Tom Robinson, a black man, was brought to trial based solely on accusations by Bob Ewell. Bob made these accusations against Tom Robinson to cover up the fact that his daughter was trying kiss...
Words: 609 - Pages: 3
...Gender Stereotypes Common phrases frequently repeated in American households such as, “Girls don’t do that!”, often reflect a cultural and physical distinction between males and females. From the very moment children are born, they are labeled with predisposed gender characteristics— boys receive a blue cloth and are put into a room decorated with cars, and girls receive a pink cloth and are put into a room decorated with flowers. As they mature, many children start to recognize both physical and mental differences thus increasing the fixed gap between genders. In fact, gender has also hindered the progression of America regarding freedom of expression- a right included in the very first amendment of our Constitution. Currently, gender is...
Words: 1994 - Pages: 8
...To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a chilling historical fiction novel that centers around the trial of an innocent black man who is accused of raping a white woman. The novel is set in Alabama during the 1930s, and it follows an old lawyer and his family in the small town of Maycomb. Atticus Finch, the lawyer and father, is often called upon by the town for help due to his stature. He is level headed and focuses on the belief that everybody deserves to be treated equally. It is this belief that leads him to being chosen to represent Tom Robinson, the accused black man, in court. Because To Kill a Mockingbird is set in Alabama during the 1930s, the odds that he will be found innocent are exceptionally low, so Atticus must do everything...
Words: 1077 - Pages: 5
...In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are many characters who have power, but the one who stands out is Mayella Ewell. Many will say Mayella is not a powerful character even though she is white, she is very poor and lives on the bad side of town. Mayella does not have much control over her life and does not get to make her own decisions. Mayella Ewell’s dad is a drunk and abuses her. In the little town of Maycomb, Alabama class, gender, and race all determine how much power someone has. Class refers to a person’s level of income and education and often boils down to how much money one is able to earn. Mayella and her family are very poor. They live in an old cabin, where African americans use to live. The only thing nice in Mayella’s yard was her red geraniums. Scout refers to Mayella as the “loneliest person in the world” (Lee, chap. 19). White people would...
Words: 470 - Pages: 2
...“ To kill a mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “Antigone” by Sophocles are both dramas having to do with justice, the main characters in both dramas are struggling to bring justice to a society or situation that was lacking. In Sophocles’ drama, Antigone was trying to bring justice by burying her brother Polyneices against the kings, Creon’s, orders. While in “To kill a mocking bird” Atticus is an attorney in a case where race is a major issue and he is trying to save Tom Robinson from being convicted of a crime where there’s overwhelming evidence of his innocence. Both “Antigone” and “To kill a mockingbird’s” themes seem to revolve around justice which is proven when Antigone buries her brother and Atticus agrees to take on Tom Robinsons case. Another large theme in both dramas is the idea that women are somehow ‘lesser’ because of their femininity, a cause of this might be because of the era that the dramas are set in. Throughout “To kill a mockingbird” Scout does her best to avoid ‘girly’ things so that she can keep playing with her brother Jem, its only later in the novel that Scout begins to realize that being a girl is more about having positive traits than lacking them. This theme continues in “Antigone”, most pointedly when Ismene states “Bethink thee, sister, we are left alone; Shall we not perish wretchedness of all, If in defiance of the law we cross A monarch's will?--weak women, think of that, Not framed by nature to contend with men. Remember this too that the stronger...
Words: 2326 - Pages: 10
...Despite the drawbacks for his own family, Atticus was wise to defend Tom Robinson. The author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee, states the issues of courage, class, gender roles, and compassion. The character, Atticus defends Tom Robinson’s case. Atticus had his own values and beliefs for what he was willing to fight for. No matter what the circumstance was, he was always confident for what he believed in. Although Atticus knew that he would lose, he would always stay determined to show his town that Tom Robinson is a human being with equal rights, like everyone else. Since his message did permeate the society as well, everyone in the courtroom stood in respect as he passed by them. Unlike most of the white folks in his town, Atticus...
Words: 345 - Pages: 2
