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Bobby Nutzman
English 2600/Kilpatrick
Final Project
11 December 2015
To Kill a Mockingbird Analysis Paper
A story can be both compelling and educational at the same time, but its role can change
throughout time as well. The understanding and meaning behind the book can change simply by
revaluating the text on a generational basis. To Kill a Mockingbird has been hailed as one of the
literary marvels of the 20th century, but that does not mean all who read it are drawn into the
story of Scout and her family. Even with all of the awards and praise that has been lavished on
the book it still comes under a certain amount of scrutiny because of the way it reinforces certain
stereotypes that can be hurtful towards certain groups of people. I believe that this book
reinforces stereotypes about women in a way that may have been overlooked at the time and
although Scout Finch is a strong female character, she is just a product of her environment.
To truly appreciate the values of a novel like To Kill a Mockingbird the reader should
examine the text from all of its possible angles. To Kill a Mockingbird draws its value from its
strong storytelling and message that no matter who you are, where you come from or what the
color of your skin is that all deserve to be treated equally. This should be no more important than
in the eyes of the law where all men should indeed be created equal.
into its values from a Feminist approach.

For this paper I will delve

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A Feministic approach requires us as the reader to take a step back from the engaging
story telling of Harper Lees novel and break down the role that women played throughout the
book. This could be as much as if the female characters play a vital role or if theyre limited to
something as miniscule as the helpless woman who needs a man to come and rescue her.
The goal of the feminist movement is to change the degrading view of woman to create a
value for each female. To redefine the role of woman throughout literary history and to make it
available for each woman to have her own voice in politics, education and the arts. This includes
many different novels throughout the literary canon. You dont have to give up youre old
stand buysone approach is to look at the female characters in the original books (A Gradual
Approach to Feminism in the American-Literature Classroom) When the readers are reevaluating
these novels they will need to make sure to take a critical approach to the stories and the women
theyre reading about.
Feminisms foundations were laid by Virginia Woolf in the early 1900s. Virginia
explained that it is men who rule all the most important aspects of modern society: politics, the
economy, as well as social and literary structures. (Literary Criticism an Introduction to Theory
and Practice) But she was not the only one early feminism can find its roots in many women who
pioneered the first feminism movement. The purpose of the feminism movement is to give
women an equal voice in todays society by stopping the oppression of men in everyday aspects
of life. Feminism calls for a reevaluate the roles in the everyday life of as it is stated by Bresslor
E. Charles in his book Literary Criticism An introduction to Theory and Practice, the
nonsignificant other.
The roles of women in literary canon have often been one of how women should act.
How women do act and how women should be treated. Often a typical story for women in the

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canon is the damsel in destress, or perhaps a deranged woman attempting to bring the gallant
male hero to his knees. Feminism calls on all to reevaluate these stories and add more strong
female characters and authors to the literary canon. But does To Kill a Mockingbird fulfil the
requirements to please the feminist movement?
To Kill a Mockingbird makes several references to how a woman should behave, act or
even dress, thus negatively reinforcing preexisting gender roles of its time. However, with that
being said I do not think that it affects the main character (Scout Finch) as much as the text might
lead the reader to believe. Scout Finch is fully away of gender roles and the place of men and
women throughout the book, but does not follow the traditional rules that have been laid out for
her. Even with her brother Jem, Francis, and countless other members of her community
reinforcing and reminding her that she is in fact a girl. Yet, I do not believe that Scout Finch
defies the roles simply to prove to everyone that she is as strong and independent as the men
around her, but does so unknowingly. Scout never takes any real action to show that she is her
brothers equal, or that she is indeed better than the old, dying, cranky lady who sits on her front
stoop and yells at the Finchs as they pass by.
One could argue that because of her home life she has been granted a rare opportunity to
be whoever she wants to be. Her father Atticus is a single parent and works as a lawyer which
keeps him busy most days. Her brother Jem enjoys having a playmate and Calpurnica is too
busy taking care of the affairs around the house to tend to such minuet matters. Therefor there is
no one to make Scout act like a proper woman, and this makes Scout Finch is a product of her
environment.
If the reader is looking for a strong female character for the sake of showing how strong
women can be I dont believe that Scout would make a particularly good role model. Yes, Scout

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is feisty, defiant and often times disrespectful to her male character counterparts, but she is also
fully unaware of the possible ramifications of her actions most of the time. This effectively
makes an argument for To Kill a Mockingbird being a story of a positive, strong, and good role
model for young women void. This is because Scout Finch is very well aware of the gender roles
of society and even helps to reinforce the ideas of the roles in certain parts of the book. Take her
interaction with her cousin Francis on page 93. Francis tells Scout that he hopes his grandmother
will teach him how to cook one day. Quick on the draw as Scout normally is she responds with
Boys dont cook, and even giggles at the notion of her brother Jem wearing an apron. How
could this be a positive influence on a young girl who is reading the book? To Kill a
Mockingbird is often one of the first novels read for school in many areas. Our young women
are often susceptible to ideas, whether it comes from: movies, television, magazines, or books.
With the strongest female voice in the book (possibly strongest character in the book as well)
laughing at the notion that it is acceptable for a man to cook rather than a woman, what kind of
message does that send?
Yet why would Scout Finch so easily dismiss the notion of the fact that a man would like
to know how to cook? Perhaps it is because her father Atticus Finch hires outside help to do
those jobs for him. Atticus being a single working parent would find it difficult to keep up a
family household without the help of his hired nanny Calpurnia, but perhaps he also does it
because he himself adheres to the norms of society and sees the household labors as a womans
job? Not one time in the book does the reader catch a glimpse of Atticus doing dishes or laundry
to help in the running of the household? Atticus is a busy man and has many responsibilities that
would leave him tired and possibly unwilling to do any more than what he sees as his
responsibility, but Scout sees this and it only furthers her reinforcement into the fact that gender

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roles are a very real part of the world she lives in. Scout however is allowed to war overalls, and
go outside and play with her older brother. This doesnt mean that by doing show she is in a
sense keeping up with the boys for the sake of proving that she can. She does so because she
is allowed to by the people who are around her. Calpurnia being of African-American decent
probably doesnt see it as her place to raise the white mans children and Atticus being an older
man with no assistance from a mother like figure might be too tired to take that fight on by
himself. With that being said Atticus might having some feelings of guilt as well. Not having a
mother to enforce these guidelines on how to be a woman, he might feel as if it is not his place to
tell Scout how to be a woman, leaving Scout the unorthodox freedom that she enjoys.
Scout Finches home life may a lot her the ability to run around with the boys and get
dirty without much being said but the rest of her community definitely takes notices. The old
cranky lady on the stoop, Mrs. Dubose sees to it that Scout gets an earful anytime she sees her
running around dressed like a boy. During one encounter between the two she yells from across
the way that You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady! This statement does not go
unnoticed by the young Scout Finch. However, Scout does do her best to hide her emotions.
This is mostly at the request of her father, but should she have? Why is it that Atticus puts that
burden on his children and especially Scout? This is why Scout is a product of her environment
rather than a strong feminist role model. She has both the wit and courage to stand up and say
that she can wear whatever it is she likes but she chooses to be silent at the request of a man, her
father, who is the one putting her in a position to have to keep silent in the first place.

In conclusion, although To Kill a Mockingbird is a highly decorated and celebrated book


for its story telling and morale underlyings, from a feministic approach it is nothing more than

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another story of a girl who is caught up in the world of men. If the reader is looking for value in
the text for the argument of a strong female character who is both independent and free willed
they will have to look elsewhere. Even so this does not take away from the fact that if it is taken
as nothing more than a story and not analyzed down to the last word, it is still a fantastic story.

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References
Barker, Andrew P. A Gradual Approach to Feminism in the American-Literature Classroom.
The English Journal (1989): 39. Print.
Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. Upper
Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1999. Print.

Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. Print.

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