Essay On Gender Roles In To Kill A Mockingbird

In To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, it is vivid that gender roles were part of society in the 1930s. Scout Finch, a little girl, shows that being a girl doesn’t define her personality or actions. Although this book was published in 1960 and was set in the 1930s, the contention of gender roles is still prominent in today’s civilization.

All the way through chapter five, it is well known that gender roles are a part of mankind during the Great Depression. Scout narrated, “I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that’s why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could just go off and find some to play with” (45). Basically, Jem is saying that Scout and him are no longer acting the same. Jem is insisting that if Scout asks like a girl, he will not play with her. In my opinion, this is childish of Jem to say. Throughout adolescence, there is a time when boys begin to enjoy different things than girls and vice versa. Boys and girls may

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. I got just as much right to play in it as you have” (51). Scout is not afraid to tell Dill and her brother how she feels about them excluding her. Scout is what some people consider a tomboy. She is not afraid to beat a boy up, stand up for what she thinks, or speak her mind. Scout is a great example for any girls reading To Kill a Mockingbird. She confronts and tackles traditional gender roles and throws them out the window, sometimes without even realizing is doing