Sample essay on gender and the character of scout - To Kill a Mockingbird

Gender is an important issue in To Kill a Mockingbird. In this essay, J. Kersh uses specific examples from the text to explore Harper Lee's examination of gender issues and roles, especially in the main character, Scout.

It's no coincidence that young Jean Louise Finch is nicknamed "Scout"; in addition to the obvious symbolism of the term, "Scout" is almost gender-neutral. Harper Lee's examination of racial and class-based issues in To Kill a Mockingbird extend to gender roles as well. Scout symbolically moves from boy to girl and back, giving us a glimpse of the woman she will become, much like Harper Lee herself, who questions southern gender stereotypes as a part of the problem of growing up southern.

Early on in the novel Jem places his sister right on the balance of male and female: "'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'" (52). "More like a girl" in the sense that she tends to talk through a situation rather than immediately acting upon it, as women are taught, Scout nevertheless shows both feminine and masculine tendencies, giving her an insight no character except possibly her father (the best possible example of masculinity in the book) can hope to achieve.

Having lost her mother at an early age, Scout’s female role models are fleeting at best, and negative at worst. Her aunt Alexandra, brought into town to help Atticus by providing a "motherly" influence, is simply incapable of understanding her niece having any interest in "doing things that required pants" (81). In one particular case, Mrs. Dubose, a grumpy old lady, stops Jem and Scout as they walk into town, asking Scout, "'what are you doing in those overalls? You should be in a dress and camisole, young lady!'" Mrs. Dubose is crabby and unpleasant, and the idea of being like her repulses Scout. Jem's reaction? "'Come on, Scout,' [. . .] be a gentleman'" (101). Much of Scout's gender identity originates with those closest to her, her father and brother, so rolling around in the dirt and fighting with boys (and beating them) comes naturally. Aunt Alexandra and Mrs. Dubose represent opposite extremes of womanhood – the prissy socialite and the rotten old dowager – in effect showing Scout what she does not want to be.

By the time Mayella Ewell enters the book presenting an entirely different type of female, Scout has already realized what stereotypes are: "Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere, but this feeling was what Aunt Alexandra called being 'spoiled'" (229). Mayella is a "rebel" in a sense, but also an outcast. She is also a victim of abuse, and Lee expertly contrasts the stubborn little girl who’s not afraid of a fight with the pathetic wisp of a young woman who, at the very least, responds overly gratefully to the slightest kindness.

The term "sexual predator" was coined long after To Kill a Mockingbird was published; however, Mayella Ewell could be defined as one when she sends the children out for ice cream then invites Tom into her house to fix a door that isn’t broken. She ends up grabbing his legs as he reaches up to retrieve a box, hugging him and begging him to kiss her - these actions are more sad than malicious. Lee doesn't seem to think Mayella is a predator, merely a woman so weak she can only rely on her sexuality to alleviate some of the boredom and danger of her home life. But the fact remains that Mayella is weak enough to allow her father, who already has an abusive hold over her, to twist the truth in court to uphold his own "reputation."

Scout isn't interested in becoming a socialite, a matron or a victim; presumably the only option she has left involves a sort of gender-blending that allows her to take on both female and male characteristics. She wears jeans and overalls, even under her fancy dress; she fights and plays rugged boys' games. She begins to lose sight of her feminine side when Jem, who seems to be displaying his own "feminine side," prevents her from squashing a roly-poly. Jem is starting to grow a few chest hairs, and is considering trying out for football; ironically, this is when he really starts paying attention to the value of a more "feminine" perspective, that is, one that is more concerned with his surroundings and the emotions involved. In short, Jem is becoming a more complete person.

Scout is similarly returned to a more "feminine" role at the end of the novel. She enters Jem’s room, where Atticus awaits to read her one of her brother's books. After being exposed to life as seen by wild little boys, social climbers, bitter old ladies and perpetual victims, she is ready to be, if for just one evening, her Daddy’s little girl again. This is significant because this very girlishness is something Scout has rejected throughout the novel, as she has moved through various phases of engagements with the issue of gender. In the end, she wants to try life as Jean Louise Finch instead; it is a life we can assume will carry her well into a well-adjusted adulthood. Like Jem, Scout has "chosen" her gender role by seeing the world from both perspectives. The result brings them both closer to their father, whose fairness and evenness represents the best of both worlds.