Scout's Views On Aunt Alexandra Change example essay topic

As girls grow in life, they mature and change into women. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, begins to mature into a woman. In the beginning of the book, she is a tomboy who cannot wait to pick a fistfight with anyone, but at the end, she lowers her fists because her father, Atticus, tells her not to fight. Scout's views of womanhood, influenced by how Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, and Calpurnia act, make her think more about becoming a woman and less of a tomboy. In the beginning of the book, Scout is a tomboy. She acts, dresses, and walks like a boy because when she was little her mom died, leaving her in a house with two men, Jem and Atticus.

Scout has a lot of masculine influence but no feminine influence. Scout also has a raging temper, a manly trait, which she develops by hanging around boys too much. For example, one day at school, she punches Walter Cunningham for embarrassing her in front of the new teacher, and when she gets home, Atticus lectures her and tells her to control her temper and never to punch anyone ever again. Instead of acting like a girl, she goes hunting, swimming, and running around with boys, in boys clothes. Scout does not want to be a woman.

Jem tells Scout, "It's time you started be in' a girl and acting right" (115) as opposed to earlier when he told Scout to stop acting like a girl. Scout gets all offended when he says both of these because she had always wanted to be exactly like Jem, which is why she always acts like a boy and never like a girl. Later in the book she says, "Ladies seem to live in faint horror of men... But I liked them. There was something about them, no matter how much they cussed and drank and gambled and chew.

No matter how delectable they were, there was something about them that I instinctively like" (234). Now she likes men because in her opinion they are better and more fun, as opposed to her liking them just because of Jem. Her views on womanhood are based on the women around her, and she does not like the women in Maycomb. In addition, Atticus does not feel in a hurry to make her into a woman, figuring she is young, so she can hunt, play, and get herself dirty.

Although, when Aunt Alexandra comes to live with them, it is a different story. Aunt Alexandra, who is all about image, comes to stay with Atticus and the kids so she can preserve the family name. The first thing she does when she arrives is criticize Scout for acting like a boy: "We decided it best for you to have some feminine influence" (127) and Scout does not like Aunt Alexandra trying to change her, so she resists the change despite Aunt Alexandra attempts. As a last resort, she gets Atticus to talk to her and Jem. "She asked me to tell you you must try to behave like the little lady and gentleman that you are. She wants to talk to you about the family and what it's meant to Maycomb County though the years, so you " ll have some idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly".

(133) Aunt Alexandra is mad at Atticus for defending Tom in the trial because it does not look good for the family name. At the tea party Scout's views on Aunt Alexandra change, "When she had them on the road, Aunt Alexandra stepped back. She gave Miss Maudie a look of pure gratitude, and I wondered at the world of women. Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra had never been especially clock and here was Aunty silently thanking her for something" (233). Scout respects Aunt Alexandra a lot more after this scene happens; she sees that womanhood is not exactly how she imagines it and that it might not be that bad after all.

Aunt Alexandra is a total opposite of Miss Maudie, the kind woman who lives across the street, and is always there for Scout to talk to. She does not judge people based on what she hears from the other women in town, but rather simply lives her life maintaining a broad-minded view about the trial and many other things. She calls Scout "Jean Louise" and Boo Radley "Arthur", showing both of them the respect they deserve. Miss Maudie is another woman who Scout is around a lot, especially when Jem starts ignoring Scout and ditching her for football. Miss Maudie changes Scout's perception of womanhood because in the morning, Miss Maudie is dressed in overalls and "men's clothing", but at night, she changes into a dress and looks gorgeous showing Scout that being a woman does not mean that every hour one has to be in a dress looking beautiful. Miss Maudie is a role model for Scout.

They sit on her porch and talk just like a mother and daughter, "In summertime, twilight's are long and peaceful. Often as not, Miss Maudie and I would sit silently on her porch watching the sky go form yellow to pink as the sun went down" (43). Miss Maudie is there for Scout to lean on and supports her during tough times like at Aunt Alexandra's tea party. Miss Maudie comforts her when everyone was laughing: "Miss Maudie looked gravely at me.

She never laughed unless I meant to be funny" (229). Miss Maudie is there for Scout to hold her hand while the other ladies are subtly making fun of Atticus and saying that he is a disgrace for defending a Negro. Miss Maudie changes helps Scout change her views on becoming a woman. Calpurnia, the Finch's nanny, is also a role model throughout the book for Scout, and throughout the book Scout's perceptions about Calpurnia change. Calpurnia has been with the Finch's for a long time, but she still is not really part of the family. When she stays overnight, she sleeps in the kitchen on a cot instead of in the guest room.

This shows Scout that even though Calpurnia is like a mom she is never permanent. In the beginning of the book, Scout thinks that Calpurnia is out to get her because she disciplines Scout, and teaches her how to treat people kindly and with respect "Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp " ny, and don't you let me catch you remark in' on their ways like you was so high and mighty!" (24) And lecturing Scout about laughing at Walter while he was at dinner. Cal teaches her about treating people with respect also. Even though it is apparent that Aunt Alexandra dislikes Calpurnia working for Atticus, she still shows as much respect to her as she does to Atticus, while she could have just quit and gone home to her own family.

Towards the end of the book, when Scout starts spending more time with Cal as a friend, she learns how to respect Aunt Alexandra when she says, "If Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I" (237). She learns this from Cal and starts respecting Aunt Alexandra because even after she figures out that Tom was killed she can still act like a lady. Calpurnia teaches Scout about how to treat people especially to give people she thinks she hates a chance. Towards the end of the book, Scout starts to mature into a woman. Especially when she is standing on the Radley porch: "One time Atticus said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them; just stand in' on the Radley porch was enough" (279). That night Scout obtains a newfound respect for Boo after he saves her life.

She also feels sad because of all the things that Boo has given her; she has nothing to give him in return. In addition, when Cecil Jacobs provokes her in the schoolyard by saying ugly things about Atticus, Scout is quick to draw her fist but then lowers it and walks away. She turns her back and does not come back even to the chanting, "Coward" which shows extreme maturity even though Scout does not mature the way Aunt Alexandra imagines her to, like wearing pretty dresses or listening to town gossip. This is evident during the tea party when one woman asks her, "Where are your britches", and Scout replies, "Under my dress" (229). She looks like a girl on the outside but is still a boy in the inside, but she matures into a woman in her heart, which is more important, and learns that being a woman is not just looking pretty. Throughout the novel, Miss Maudie and Calpurnia positively influence Scout's vision of womanhood.

Aunt Alexandra, however, negatively influences Scout. In the end, Scout matures into a woman not by the way she dresses but by the way, she acts. She finally realizes that name, image, and race do not matter; what matters is the person inside. Scout matures through her heart, which is much more genuine that trying to dress pretty and be someone she is not.