Thursday, October 14, 2010
Mockingbird Blog #2 -- Chapter 6
In chapter 6, when Scout expresses her reluctance to go onto the Radley's property, Jem says: "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." In the opening chapters, how does Scout seem to conform to the gender roles set up by her community? How does she seem to defy them? What are her feelings about being a girl?
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At the time Scout was told off by Jem he states her being a girl. This is oddly an insult considering
the fact Scout is a girl. Anyway, the phrase girl is being used as an insult for cowardice. The lack of bravery, as shown in the 1930s, was considered feminine and so the best way to insult someone was to use feminine insults. Sissy or chicken is a more common insult but nevertheless it results in the same meaning of cowardice. The phrase girl contradicts the fact that Scout is a girl but in that way demeans the fact of Scout being a girl.
In her community it is at first unclear of gender roles for children. For example, up to chapter 7 (chapter I'm up to) the fact is that no men cook. Only the women such as Miss Maudie Atkinson or Calpurnia cook or bake.
Scout has not cooked yet in the story so this is one rule she defies.
Another rule is the kind facade. Most women in the Maycomb neighborhood are kind at one point but may be horrifically terrifying.
One instance of the broken facade is when Walter visits. It begins when Walter discovers the syrup they had in the cupboards. After piling it on he decided to try and put in milk. That is when Scout says something to him about, "what in sam's hill are you doing," It results in Calpurnia telling Scout off. Scout confronts her angry side at that point. Calpurnia's grammar changes, as Scout points out, because of sheer anger. Scout follows this because she cares about Jem and Dill when they do something dangerous, but, then acts
tough once called a girl.
Scout's feeling of being a girl is the feeling of being weak. She is a
little girl in reality no matter what tough facade she puts on. If she cares enough she will voice their opinion and when angered she will send anger back.
This is supported by Jem's remarks on her 'girliness' and her reaction. She is always pressured into something with being called a girl because she does not want to be pictured as weak. This is the result of her feelings for being a girl.
Hi, its Stef.
When Jem says that Scout is acting like a girl, he says that as though she is a boy, though she actually is a girl. In the opening chapters, you don't know that she is a girl, and if people didn’t call her mam sometimes, you would never know. She seems to act as though it doesn't matter that she is a girl, and she seems to do a lot of the things a boy would do (at the time.)
The community around Scout seems to ignore the fact that she is a girl. You know this because she is never segregated against because of her gender, and people even act as though she is a boy, such as when Jem calls her a girl, as though she’s a boy. In the beginning of the book, gender isn't an issue, and when Jem and Scout play together, Scouts being a girl never gets in the way. Then when Dill comes, and they start doing things around the Radley house, which, for them, is very daring and dangerous, and when Scout tries to back out, her being a girl starts to become an issue. When Dill and Jem are about to go and try and give a note to Boo Radley, She tries to back down, and that is when gender starts to matter, and that is when Jem starts to make fun of her for being a girl.
Stef
So far in To Kill A Mockingbird I think Scout has acted very “boyish”. For the first few pages I thought she was a boy. I think that in the book there are specific old-fashioned ways that girls are supposed to act and that boys are supposed to act. I think that most of her childhood Scout has followed Jem around and beaten up boys. This summer I think she feels left out of Dill and Jem’s plans and she feels uncomfortable when they provoke Boo Radley. I think Scout is being pressured to stop acting like a “girl” by Dill and Jem. I think that she is going to end up making a stupid choice while trying to show them that she’s not a “girl” and that she’s not afraid to do their dares.
In To Kill a Mockingbird Jem states that Scout is becoming more and more like a girl everyday. The way Jem and Dill mean it is stereotypical; they mean it as an insult. When Jem and Dill say that Scout is acting like a girl they don’t mean a girl as in the gender, they mean a “girl” as in the stereotype of weak and pitiful and worrisome. They exclude Scout, which makes her see being a girl as bad luck. Scout is a girl and though Jem has originally tried to almost ignore the fact, when Scout get worried, he blames it on not her character or personality but on her gender.
There have, of course, always been stereotypes bout girls and boys. Stereotypes like: all girls like dolls or pink, that all girls are weak or intellectually inferior to boys. Stereotypes as in all boys like sports or all boys are tough, that crying makes them a sissy. We can see some of these stereotypes highlighted in the way Dill and Jem see Scout.
The time and place in which Scout lives definitely categorizes people. Because of their class or family they must behave a certain way, they are seen a certain way no matter of their character. I believe it is the same for women and people of color, the town sees these people in a specific light, in a specific way.
The only real reason I knew, in the beginning of the book that is, that Scout was a girl was because I knew the plot of the story before starting it. She tags along with her brother and Dill and wants to be a part of their group. Eventually they exclude her because of her fears, explaining she must have them because of her gender. I think Scout wants to show them that she is not a “girl” as in the stereotype but a girl as in the gender if a girl at all. She is tough and smart but Jem and Dill choose to ignore her because of what she is as oppose to who she is.
In this book so far Jem and Scout have been close brother and sister. Lately Jem and Dill have been excluding her from things and when Jem tells her she is acting to much like a girl she gets mad. She knows shes a girl she just doesn't want to act like one. Maybe she think that acting like a girl during that time, she couldn't have any fun or the same fun she had with Jem. She wants to play with Jem and Dill, but there seems to be a border line just because she doesn't want to do what they're doing. By this Jem is calling her a girl for being scared. She brings up the reason, when they're attaching the note to Boo Radley's house, that anyone who went to touch the house should be able to just slide that note without a fishpool. Jem says that that was different, but it's no different for Scout to be scared the same way Jem was scared. However Jem still calls her a girl. In this case when Jem calls her a girl he's calling her a coward. She wants to prove to Jem that she's not a coward so she does what they tell her to do. However whenever she doesn't want them to do something she is all by her self. That is why she spent most of her summer at Miss Maudie's. Scout just wants to play with her brother, but by calling her a girl that annoys her so she feels the need to stand up to Jem which is to do what they want her to do.
I think that Scout is the opposite gender that she is "supposed" to be playing. she has an older brother Jem who is very hard on her so i think that has taught her to be tough. back then, the time period that to kill a mockingbird was placed was very racist and sexicist. they thought that men should go out to work and that women should stay home clean and cook and take care of the children. they thought that men had the knowledge to go out and provide for his family.i think scout proves that wrong when she goes to school and is a great reader. the kids in scouts class cant even read and shes already fluent.
Scouts teacher reacts in an unnormal way.she says that Scout should stop reading because the teacher would teach her the right way to read. i think part of the reason that Scouts teacher is upset is because shes surprised at how a girl can read better then a boy. i think when Jem yelled at Scout that she was becoming more like a girl everyday it was ment to be a mean thing, offensive in some way. Jem was going to give a note to the Radly's when Scout said that she thought it was a bad idea.
Jem thought she was being baby and not neing strong enough, he thought that Scout was acting like a wimp. He said that Scouts acting more like a girl everyday . he is saying that girls are as adventourous or as strong or as risky as boys are. it says that for adult women they make lunch and then take a nap. thats part of what they do everyday.
I think that Scout could not last doing that. she would want to go to work everyday and she couldnt cook and sleep and clean all day. scout is to adventourous. i think that if Scout was a boy and she was telling Jem and Dill that she thought going to the Radly's was a bad idea Jem and Dill would may of listened, they may of considered Scouts idea. since Scout was a girl they yelled at her and tried to insult her.it hink that men back then think of womren as inferior like whites did blacks. they thought god made them smarter and wiser. thats the roles god pu them in and thats the roles theys should play.
Scout is a very boyish character who does not conform to her town's general view of women. She does not cook nor clean, she is friends with boys (she has not been shown interacting with any girl classmates), and fights with them fearlessly. So I suppose not being seen as one of them frightens her, being a girl is an insult.
Despite Scout being a girl, they treat her like a boy, and Scout probably is so boyish that she doesn't want to be called a girl, so when she shows a lack of bravery, as theOneOhOne stated, was an insult for being a coward. Even though she is a girl, which is unclear in the first chapters, she is treated with respect from other people as if her gender doesn't matter at all, or as if she appears to others as a boy. Even though girls are supposed to be disliked in the community, she has befriended Miss Maudie Atkinson and does not hate women, even though it is trying to be influenced.
Women are supposed to be disliked in the community, and Scout is treated like a boy and not hated, this is one thing that she defies. Also, she is friends with boys, which we have not yet seen with the other female characters.
Scout was probably raised to believe that being a girl was a bad thing, which might be what started her boyishness before we discovered that she was a girl. She wishes she was a boy because she probably doesn't want to live the life that Miss Maudie does, alone in her house, tending to her garden all the time. She wants to be a boy so she can be more privileged and do things other than that. She also doesn't want to be a girl because she does not want to have the appearance of being weak. Being a girl is something that Scout appears to be ashamed of, and tries to hide that by being boyish.
I am Cara
In the beginning chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout seems to cover or hide the fact that she is a girl. She only brings it up when she has to or when she is narrating others that are calling her a girl. From the way her brother, Jem, talks to her and seems to affectively threaten her with the idea that she is becoming more of a girl, shows the fact that men are more dominant in the book. Because of the time period of the 1930’s men were probably still higher than women in power. Scout, living with her father and brother, seems to act and strive to appear like a boy too. Her brother is like her role model. Scout wants to be apart of what he does. When Jem and Dill play together, there is a continuing barrier of gender rather then age that seems to be keeping her from fully getting to play with them without any doubts from Jem that she, being a girl, couldn’t handle it. So in order to feel more wanted, I think that Scout thinks that she needs to partake in everything they do, even going to Boo Radley’s house.
It is clear that Scout’s rather combative personalty does not conform to the idealistic “feminine image” upheld by the public during this time period. Scout’s nature causes her to resent Miss Caroline (and during the first few chapters, Calpurnia) because she wished to “pacify” Scout by restricting her means of expression, in this case writing. For you see Scout has little understanding of gender segregation as she has not been exposed to it while living under the moral eye of Atticus, who sees no reason to appraise humanly worth (limit the abilities of others). It is because of Atticus’s teachings that Scout thinks it irrational to constrain the will of others just because of gender. However, I believe that when Jem calls Scout a girl, he means no harm by saying so. Jem says this because he is essentially “going through a phase” and he rejects Scout because he wishes to become more socially diverse by playing with Dill, a relatively new face in the dull town of Maycomb. Jem himself has little, if any social bias as he too was raised to show higher moral character than many of his peers. Despite this however, Jem unintentionally succeeds in hurting Scout’s feelings by so blatantly rejecting her.
Scout is very much a tom-boy. Growing up with Jem, who uses "girl" as an insult, Scout has adapted to some of the more boy-ish things to do. She beats up others boys, never fails to go along with Jems dares, and hasn't showed any sign of interest in any boys accept as friends.
She's not ashamed to be girl, she's ashamed to be a "girl". A "girl", being someone who is afraid to do something dangerous, something with the possibilities of getting hurt. I think this shines a light on how girls were portraid in this time period.How they were supposed to be scared, weak and not equal to boys. This title would make her a wimp in Jems eyes, and being his little sister, scout does not want Jem to be embarassed by her because she looks up to him a little. Jem knows he needs her to be a look out, or any other 3rd person position, but he sees that she is scared of doing things that involve the radley's so he gets her to do things by calling her a "girl."
before he said that, in the book Jen would say to her stop being a girl as if she was a boy. When he said that she was upset maby because she wants to be a boy. And when he says that, also usealy it is an insult like saying stop being a chicken and when she notices that she is a girl she gets upset.
As a girls whose nickname was scout, who hung out with only boys, and had a dire passion to read she was already an outcast. She had to defend her position as a female and it is hard. She is often excluded from the meetings about how they would sneak into the Radley home, and how whenever they played the Boo game she was always the person with the least amount of parts.
Being a girl in this book also meant she was to be uneducated. she shouldn't have time to study because of house work but yet Scout finds the time. so it can be hard to be seen as the prissy who has time for schooling.
I think being a female in general is hard during this era.
I think that Scout is annoyed at the fact that her community has already put a personality on her and she feels that she is more of a boyish person and by her town wants her to be a woman.They don't believe in being a girl and acting and dressing like a boy. After scout was told off by Jem I think that her first feeling was I cant believe he just said that. " Your becoming a girl even move every day. I feel like she felt like that was an insult and in that moment i think that she felt she was out of place with the type of people she was hanging out with.
In the very first chapters, Scout’s gender isn’t clear. The next couple of chapters it becomes clear she is a girl, when she is referred to as “she” and “sister”. In the thirties girls and boys had certain gender roles that were very different. Girls were supposed stay inside and sow, and learn to be good mothers and housewives. Boys had more freedom and could go outside and play. Scout acts like a “typical” girl in some ways, like when she “marries” Dill. In other ways Scout is not a very “typical” girl. She is the kind of girl that wears overalls, climbs trees, and runs around with her brother. Scouts only friends in the book are boys, so she strives to be like them. In the beginning of the book, Scout is her brothers constant playmate but as they get older they drift apart a little bit when Dill and Jem become closer. That’s the main reason she spends the summer sipping lemonade with miss maudie instead of playing with Dill and Jem. Scout doesn’t really consider her self to be like the other girls. She is offended when Jem calls her a girl. This meaning Scout is afraid and too much of a wimp. In an effort to prove she is not a “girl” she agrees to go to the Radley house and make Boo come out. Even though going to the Radley house wasn’t the smartest thing, Scout still did it because she felt she needed to prove herself to Jem and Dill.
How come the time of the posts is 3 hours before the real post time
The community of Maycomb there are few females whom of which two of three or four are cooks. So I would expect a mother or woman to be a cook or working in a house, that in Maycomb they aren't made to do physical work.
The Gender roles are working in a kitchen or taking care of your home etc. Most women are cooks in Maycomb. They all dont do physical work.
Sout seems to define a girl as a somewhat weak person or inactive person that does houseworkq such as: cleaning or cooking.
Her feelings of a girl is almost a disrespectfull term. It is disrespectfull in a way because of the bacround of a "girl"
Throughout the chapters so far in To Kill A Mockingbird, it seems as though Scout is "one of the boys". This meaning she acts like a boy, when really she is a girl. I agree with what Kai said. Dill and Jem both know obviously that she is a girl, but its the stereotypes in the society. What I mean by that, is in society a female figure is the one who wears dressy clothing and the one that flirts and hangs out with the girls. And the boys is the opposite. I think Scout has defined herself as a tom-boy.
Scout is a tomboy, she acts like a boy, she never acts like a girl and is proud of how she acts. She acts mean when she has to, and fights when she needs to. When Scout ignores what people say about like hey you should be acting like a girl and not a boy. she does not like being a girl, she wants to act like a girl. She thinks that she is a boy and that she is happy about acting as a boy instead of a girl.
In the first chapter I had thought that Scout was a boy, for it does not state at first that Scout was a girl. At first Scout's gender isn't obvious towards the readers, but as you read farther into the book, you can identify what gender Scout is. I agree with Brittney, because the very thought of being a girl, and not being looked at as a fellow "boy" friend disgust her. I think that since Scout has not exactly been raised by a women, she never got to be taught how to act like a girl. I don't mean to be sexist, but when I say act like a girl, it seems that acting like a girl in Scout's vision is being prissy and with a lot of manners. Since Scout didn't really have a mother to lean on for support, she had turned to Atticus and Jem for help. Scout had spent most of her life learning from both of them, that she had started to act like a boy, as in rough housing and many more adventurous dirty games. Now Scout thinks of being a girl as an insult for she wants to be able to play, and to be thought of as a boy so she wouldn't have to get "taken care of." All in all, I think that since Scout never had a really close relationship with a women or girl friend, she had spent most of her time playing with boys, and wanting to be treated no different than any of the other boys.
In the story of "Mockigbird" it is obvious that Scout is a "tomboy" and being a tomboy in this time was not an easy kind of person to be. When Jem calls her a girl, it is obvious that Scout is not pleased to be called a girl, which explains that in Scout's mind, being a girl is "dumb." I think this is a significant part of the book, because it shows what the set ups of gender in her community are. In these times women were not expected to do much, usually they were only expected to be housewifes, and have children. the gender roles in this time period shows that Scout is a very special person, who has the confidence to disobey the gender rules of the community.
When Jem says that she's acting like a girl he means it as an insult. Jem only refers to her as being a girl when she is annoying for some reason. From talking too much to not wanting to go to the Radley house, Scout is being called a girl. She takes it as a insult herself.
She has no mother, hence no female figure to teach her the difference between a boy and a girl. This means she has grown up with only men, hence acts like a boy.
Scout is a real tomboy. I was actually a huge tomboy when I was younger so I can relate to Scout the most out of all the characters. She doesn't seem to want a girl, she wants to be one of the boys.
The gender roles set up in the community are complicated to me. In To Kill a Mockingbird they never actual mention any of the sexism i had expected from a book about the 1930's which I found very odd. Maybe because it's from the perspective of a first grader so she doesn't know about sexism yet. Scout only knows it's bad to be a girl. Being a girl means not having any friends to her.
Scout is definitely a very boy like character. She takes after her brother and because he was one of her only friends as a young child and Scout was one of Jems only friends. In this bool Scout is getting to a point in her life where she is expected to be more girl like and Jem has also started to move away from her and more towards Dill because he is a boy. Scout does not conform to the typical roles of women in their community and would rather beat people up and get into mischief with Jem and Dill not cook and clean like a housewife in their community. To Scout calling her a girl would be a big insult and would make her feel like she is being excluded from their friendship and like she is a "sissy" that should be at home playing nicely with other girls .
In maycomb, women seem to adopt the role as rule-keepers. Early in the book, we see this through the teacher, and Miss Maudie. Scout adopts this identity by trying to put a stop to the foolishness of the boys. Though she is not successful, she seems to aquire that sensitivity that in this community, is "girly". However, at the same time she balances this image with her actions. She plays with boys, and seems to follow the activities of Jem and Dill. In Maycomb, girls are supposed to adopt the role of the calm one, versus the boys who are seemingly more active. I agree with Ian, in the sense that this label of being a "girl" gives her the feeling of weakness. Automatically, she quiets down when Jem shouts at her. We get the sense that Scout wants to defy these stereotypes, and redefine "girl" as a strong, active, person.
If one were to say that they believed that Scout was NOT a tomboy, it'd be hard to provide evidence as to why she wasn't. This book was written in 1960, but revolves around the 1930s, when females were not well respected. In a way, females are looked down upon. When Dill insults Scount of being a girl, he is basically saying that Scout is acting more of a girl than she should be. Also, around this time, females are still expected to cook and watch over the offspring. Even young children, like Burris Ewell, disrectpect elders like Miss Caroline when something does not go their way. Girls do not have as much of a prominent role in this book, nor did they in the 1930s. Also, it is very much expected for females to be very "lady-like" and be nice to men and other females. Scout constantly rebels against these rules, feeling as if she is closer to being a boy, becasue males are the prominent figures in her life. Scount understands that she is a girl, but also comprehends that when the only people that you really hang out with are Jem and Dill, you may have to change your girly ways.
When Jem tells scout that she is acting more like a girl everyday he is saying that she is not acting like her community expects her to act like. Her community believes that women or girls should behave differently than men. Scout likes to hang out more with boys rather than girls. I think that Scout does not really care about the rules of her community but she respects it very much and knows a lot about it. Scout likes the way she is and she takes advantage of how she wants to spend her time and the person she is. Sometimes she does not do the same activities as her brother Jem or her friend Dill but sometimes she wants to do her own thing.
I agree with what people have been saying that Scout is treated like a boy even though she is a girl. It makes sense though. She is constantly spending her time with the other boys and following them in their activities. Also, she is just as capable and can do everything that they can do. When she is brought back to reality and put as an outsider it makes her internalize the feelings of an outsider and thinks that she is.
She does not fit the stereotypes of society about being a girl very much and she is not limited by them either. She does everything that only boys are thought to do. She rough-houses, speaks her mind openly, reads, acts smart, talks back, and dresses like a boy. She is not at all what Maycomb defines as “girly”, and yet she is a girl.
I don’t get the impression that Scout minds being a girl so much as the limitations put on by society associated with being a girl. Therefore when Jem said that to her, she most likely felt like the feelings of cultural physical and mental repression and limitation came with it.
In the very beginning of To Kill a Mocking Bird, I had absolutely no idea that Scout was a girl. The way that she always hung out with Jem (obviously because Jem's her brother) and Dill, I automatically assumed that she was a boy. It seems that in Maycomb, there are specific ways women are expected to act, gossiping with each other, acting very dainty, but Scout never seems to act that way, she seems independent and strong.
I think that the way Scout feels about being a girl, is girls are seen as weak a lot of the time and she knows that, I think she wants to show that not all girls are dainty little people and that they can be just as tough as guys can be.
Scout is in many ways is a tom-boy. She loves to hang out with Jem and Dill. Scout participates in just about every activities that both Jem and Dill do such as curling up in a tire and having someone push them. Whenever Scout doubts Jems plans, Jem always states that she is becoming a girl and Scout backs off. Scout feels that she doesn't want to be viewed as a “Girl” in Jem’s view and just wants to have fun with him without getting into to much trouble. The problem that Scout runs into is when she should use her common sense or just go along with Jem’s plans in order to be included in his games. Scout says,
“”You do an’ i’ll wake up Atticus.”
“You do and i’ll kill you.”” (Page 56)
Scout says this to Jem when she is trying to get him not to go outside at two in the morning and try and get his pants that he lost when he was misbehaving. Jem rebuts saying that he will “Kill her” if she tells on him which puts Scout in a sticky situation. Scout has to choose weather or not to tell on Jem in order to keep him out of further trouble or let Jem go, and rick something happening to him. Later in the book, when Dill comes back for the summer, Jem starts to ignore Scout and seems to only want to hang out with Dill. Whenever Scout tries to interact with Jem, he tells her to go away because she is a girl. Scout faces discrimination from her brother and one of her best friends just because of the fact that she is a girl. This isn’t good for Scout because she doesn't have that many other friends that she can rely on to be with her.
In the beginning of "To Kill a Mockingbird," it is unclear whether Scout is a female or a male. Later on we realize that she is a female. She is very much like a tomboy though, and I feel that she is constantly exposed to boys and their "boyish" behaviors. From what I know, she has grown up with an older brother that she looks up to, and I am unaware if she has a mother figure. When you are growing up with no mother and an older brother, you often pick up on their ways. Scout is someone that likes to pick on people, (like when she tried to beat up Walter), and someone that partakes in Jem and Dill's "boyish" plans and games. When Jem says to her "You're gettin' more like a girl every day," I feel like that powered her to act even more like "one of the guys." When Jem said this to her she felt like she had to prove him wrong.
At this period of time of the 1930s, there were specific gender roles that Scout seemed to be going against. The norm for the 1930s and much of the time around this, was women that were often supposed to sit inside and take care of the house and family needs while the men were literally supporting the family with money and food from their job. Scout is someone that really wants to be part of these plans with her brother and someone who wants to not only be like her brother but to take leadership.
Scout reacts to the gender role in the community by trying to prove that girls are just as adventurous as boys. Scout defies gender roles by being adventurous, rough and fearless of getting into fights. Scout takes her anger out on Walter because she got into trouble for standing up for him. “Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop.” Scout proves girls can be as rough as boys. Scout is not ashamed of being a girl, but she wants to prove that she’s no different from boys. She wants to do this because her brother is a role model whom she looks up to. In Scout’s family there are no women whom she can look up to. Her brother as a role model she wants to prove herself. As Scout realizes that Jem will never treat her as an equal, Miss Maudie joins the story. Miss Maudie is a woman who like Scout goes against gender roles. The way Miss Maudie is described gives a clear idea of what type of figure she is and how she fights gender roles. “Miss Maudie hated her house: time spent indoors was time wasted. She was a widow, a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and men’s coveralls, but after her five o’ clock bath she would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty.” She is someone who loves the outdoors, wears men’s overalls and an old straw hat. She proves that not all women stay indoors all day long and that women have a rough side too. Yet she keeps a sharp edge after her 5 o’clock bath. She becomes a figure for Scout to look up to, showing what potential women truly have. “But I kept aloof from their more foolhardy schemes for a while, and on pain being called a girl, I spent most of the remaining twilights that summer sitting with Miss Maudie Atkinson on her front porch.”
Scout avoids Jem though because of his use of stereotypes about girls. Jem takes advantage of stereotypes about girls to convince Scout to do his bidding. Jem pushes Scout really hard in a tire and she lands in Boo Radley’s yard. Scout gets out of the yard and doesn’t take the tire with her. “Jem looked at me furiously, could not decline, ran down the sidewalk, treaded water at the gate, then dashed in and retrieved the tire. “See there?” Jem was scowling triumphantly. “ Nothin’ to it. I swear, Scout, sometimes you act so much like a girl it’s mortifyin.” Jem calls Scout a girl because he thinks she was afraid of getting the tire. Jem though was the one who was terribly scared. After he did it though, he felt brave and called Scout a girl. When Jem calls Scout a girl it is supposed to mean weak and scared, which were the feelings that Jem was feeling at the time.
In the opening chapters Scout does not really conform to her society’s gender rules. She is always running around with her brother and Dill and she seems to be a tomboy. She beats kids up, gets in trouble, goes on adventures and this really is not the expectation for girls in her society. And even though no one in her society really expresses that she should be a little bit more lady like, everyone is always somewhat shocked by her behavior.
A little girl who runs around taking risks, performing plays, experimenting with danger along with her brother and Dill, and going on adventures is not typical. When Scott is called a girl, she heartily denies it. For her, being a girl or being a so-called “chicken” is the worst insult possible. She wants to be like her brother, a tough boy. Why does Scout not think of herself as a girl? Since her mother is dead and she has no sisters, Scout has no female role-models besides Calpurnia. And Calpurnia is a Black woman and Black women are not respected in this community. So Scout is most influenced by the males in her life. She has no woman besides Calpurnia to look up to, so she succumbs to peer pressure and the racism of her community by trying to be a man.
In the opening chapters of to kill a mockingbird scout really acts more like a boy and dresses like a boy a lot. The book said that scout liked to wear coveralls which were known more as boy’s cloths. Also scout was very literate unlike what a girl are “supposed to be”.
The thing about gender in this book also focused on rules. There was an unwritten and in-between the said lines rule between scout and Jem that you aren’t supposed to be girly or prissy. Assuming that prissiness is an un-written rule between the siblings I think that Scout was to become very offended by the remark that her brother made.
I think that the meaning of gender, although scout and Jem might have an unwritten rule, affects everyone in the town. S o if you are called a girl, you are being called scared and not brave. Girliness means not brave because usually in the time period of to kill a mockingbird, men were the ones that were supposed to be brave.
This is Oni again,
Scout defies the social norms of her community. First off, her name is not very feminine, she dresses in loose and comfortable (boyish) clothing, and she chooses to spend most of her time with Jem and Dill. But at the same time she embraces being a girl when she has conversations with Ms. Maudie....
In the early chapters of To Kill a Mockingbird, i think Scout has really seemed to act more of a boy than her real gender. I think thats because she spends a lot of time with Jem. Scout doesn't think of herself as a girl, maybe one of the boys because she is always around Jem and Dill and follows what they do.
A girl in the Maycomb's community is supposably the one wearing dresses and going out for tea with the girls. But Scout doesn't do that. She'd rather hang with her brother and next door neighbor. I beliebe that Scout defies herself as a tom-boy because when you are a tom-boy, you like to do what boys do and not wear all the frilly dresses and stuff like that. You would rather play some games with her friends (that are boys).
I think that she was taught by Jem that being a girl is a bad thing because he uses that as an insult. So Scout probably thought it was bad to be a girl so she considered being more "boyish" Through Jem's eyes, being a girl is not being able to do those dares that boys give out. Like what Camrin said, a girl is someone who is afraid to do something dangerous and get hurt easily. Scout is a girl, but she can do that; she does some dares.
- Brianna <3
Scout does not obey many "girl rules" because she does not want to act like a girl. She disobeys a lot of rules, including understanding a lot about the town's ways and be able to contradict her teacher. When she explained to Ms. Caroline about the Cunninghams, she was replied by disaprovement, while when boys explained to the teacher about the Ewells, she understood and agreed. Another rule she disobeys is to play and gossip with other girls and be normal. She likes how boys could get to explore and do daring things, so she always play with her brother and other boys. But she is not completely a boy, and is still partly a girl who takes a lot of precautions and worries when outside the boundaries. It is very hard for her to stay in the middle, as she dislikes the cowardice of girls, and also the daring, exploratory and provoking manners of a boy.
I feel that in this book, each gender has a specific role. I feel that Scout has followed the role of a guy since she has an older brother who has influenced her throughout her life.
One quote that really stood out to me at the end of Chapter 4: "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."
I think older siblings really have an impact on the stream of thought on their young syblings. I think there is a whole thing in this time where it uncommon for boys to hang out with women since there were all of these stereotypes.
As we continue to read this book, I'll be curious with the certain roles that both genders have, and what is common and uncommon.
In these first few chapters of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Scout Finch is presented as what society would call a “tomboy”. In the very first chapters, people couldn’t tell if Scout Finch was a girl or a boy. When we read that Scout jumps over fences, climb trees, and wears overalls, we deem her a boy. We think that those are the common traits of a young boy. Society has two very different roles and rules for that of a boy and that of a girl. Scout Finch breaks those rules easily.
Scout is usually found with her brother, Jem and when he is around, Dill. Jem and Dill are perhaps Scout’s closest companions. Scout has no female friends or kin. She is almost forced to follow her brother and Dill if she wants to have any fun. She has to do what they want to do; never what she wants to do. In the developing stage of girls, it’s essential to have other girls and women to be around. Scout doesn’t have that. That is why she resorts to Mrs. Moddy, a widow that lives next door.
Scout hasn’t stated anything direct about being a girl, but when she is accused of acting like a girl, she interprets that as an insult or a put down. Therefore, she doesn’t like the idea of being a girl. Scout wants to fit in with Jem and Dill, which is part of the reason why I think that she “acts like a boy”. She is already a girl which sets her apart from the rest (in a negative way), but “acting like a boy” makes the fact that she’s a girl less apparent and less of an outsider.
-Kai Marcel
Throughout the chapters so far in To Kill A Mockingbird, it seems as though Scout is "one of the boys". This meaning she acts like a boy, when really she is a girl.Dill and Jem both know obviously that she is a girl, but its the stereotypes in the society. What I mean by that, is in society a female figure is the one who wears dressy clothing and the one that flirts and hangs out with the girls. And the boys is the opposite. I think Scout has defined herself as a tom-boy.
The time and place in which Scout lives definitely categorizes people. Because of their caste, family or reputation. They must behave a certain way, they are seen a certain way no matter of their character. I believe it is the same for women and people of color, the town sees these people in a specific light, in a specific way.
Scout is also surrounded by boys. They're aren't really girls in Maycomb that is Scout's age. So, that being said, I think Scout was brought up with boys surrounding her and in her environment, she's always been a "boy". So instead of having girls surrounding her and acting like a "normal" girl, she's acting the opposite because she's surrounded by boys.
I think Scout has a special relationship with Mrs. Maudie. I think Mrs. Maudie is like the "motherly figure" to Scout. The way Mrs. Maudie acts towards Scout is really gentle and friendly. I think Scout has always wished she could act more like a "girl" but she's afraid of what Jem and Dill would think, since she's always acted boyish. But, I think overall there's always this sense of longing and wishing to be a "normal" girl.
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