Sunday, October 14, 2012
Eton-(24-25) Free Response "What Do You THink About Scout Wearing A Dress?"
Throughout the book, Scout has not wanted to do anything that would make her seem like a "lady.""I declare to the Lord you're gettin more like a girl every day!"(Lee 69) Jem used this to get Scout to come to the Radley house at night. Scout did not want to go until Jem called her a girl. This shows that to her being called a girl is not something that she wants to be called. In chapter 24 Scout is not only wearing a dress, but she is trying to act like a lady to impress her Aunt Alexandra. After Aunt Alexandra and Scout heard of Tom Robinson's death, they were hurt for a minute, but then Alexandra decided to go back in there and to not appear as if anything was wrong. Scout then thought "After all if aunty could be a lady at a time like this, so could I."(Lee 318) At this point Aunt Alexandra silently told Scout to pass the cookies around to Mrs. Merriweather. Just like Jem compares himself to Atticus and believes that he is as grown up as Atticus is. Scout is now comparing herself to Aunt Alexandra. Scout is definitely not done running through the dirt with a bunch of boys, but Atticus's plan for Aunt Alexandra to make Scout more of a lady is working.
"What do you think of Scout at this point?" "Do you think Scout is ready to become a lady?"
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I think that Scout is still not sure whether she wants to be a "lady" or not, but she seems to be developing a new respect for Aunt Alexandra and a desire to be more like her. After the Finches learn of Tom's death, Scout says: "After all, if Aunty could be a lady at a time like this, then so could I" (Lee 318). This quote shows that Scout is finally growing up and becoming more adult and ladylike.
ReplyDeleteScout is maturing in much the same way that Jem is at this point in the book. They are both entering a period of their lives that will be formative for their personalities and how they will act. Jem wants to be more like a man and a grownup, as evidenced by his clear self-delusion: "Show you something if you won't tell anybody... well it's hair..." (Lee, 257). Scout begins to want to be a lady but clearly has no idea how to go about it or is still conflicted when she responds to the question "Where are your britches toady?" with "Under my dress." (Lee, 262). Scout clearly doesn't understand what it means to be a lady, such as the definition is perceived by Harper Lee in To Kill A Mockingbird. However, she does try to make the transition to being a lady in chapter 24.
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