Rae Dwyer Ms. Ingram English 1 Honors 15 February 2016 Influences On Scout Children are the ones who are most influenced by the environment around them. The type of environment a person grows up in ime. type of person they become. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Haqper Lee, Scout, the main character, is stating to grow up. ‘Thsiyhou the people and things around Scout influence the person she becomes. The three main innuence tha aft heros profoundly ae society, family, and government. Society nN INE, Wl ate they want it to or not, The role of ovat (er ‘women, the role of African Americans and the role of religion in society all have an impact on ag! Scout. In the society Scout lives in, girls are expected to act like ladies. It is frowned upon for a lady to be Fomboyish. Women suchas Aunt Alexandra yell at Scout because she “could not as ossibly hope to be lady if [she] wore ree ” (Lee 108), Seout would prefer to wear ("pais vt overalls instead of a dress. pal i Alexan ira is horrified we Scout does not like to wear resses, Society wants her to wear dresses and play with tea sets, rather than playing outside and wv ah ny LTH 2 ii \s ‘unning around. The thought of being and acting like a “girl” sounds miserable to Scout. She is * ‘dreading having to act like a lady. She would much rather act like a boy than a’gir! and believes wae we ys ave it much easier than gils. As she grows older and becomes more mature she discovers\ "yy ‘ aN ‘that there are some things she likes about being a lady. The more this thought goes through her wt ‘mind the more appealing it sounds. The influence of society on Scout can also be seen in the eea ~ society Scout lives in is very religious and there is pressure on everyone around them to be Dwyer 2 comments Scout makes, Scout, through these comments, shows that she is very aware of social class and rack was trying to wam everyone. i they could not contact the Radleys, and therefore went over to war them, African Americans are not allowed to use the front door and are instead required to use the back door. When Calpurnia uses the front door Scout remarks she is “supposed to go “he Sao when the rabid dog was headed towards the neighborhood, Calpurnia around in back” (124). Calpurnia went to the front door of the Radley’s house because she was in a rush. This shows Scout is aware of what is socially acceptable for African Americans versus whites. Despite all that Atticus has taught her about equality, society still instills inequality within her. Scout is surrounded by people who have these opinions everyday and these people influence her . Even the actions and words of her classmates have undermined some of Atticus from these inequalities at home, she still experiences these ideas in school and around town. Th religious too, Scout and everyone in Maycomb are expected to go to church every Sunday. Wh the Radleys choose not to go to chur is extremely frowned upon. The Radleys prefer to worship at home and many are disgusted by this. In a small town everyone knows if someone goes o church orn and those who do not attend regularly are looked down upon. Scout also sees a role model for women to be religious though Miss Maudie. Miss Maudie will Its Wat in horror about the foot-washing Baptists who live in the woods. Miss Maudie was told that she needs to spend less time out in the garden, and more time inside practicing her religion. Peer stories, she is impacted by certain events, and gives in to the peer pressure and does what she pressure effectively makes people feel like they have to go to church. Scout is impacted by =e ‘aun x hh PY ni ( oF init 3558xi important lessons he teaches Scout is that someone “never really understand a person until [they! nt ay ch to her. He wanted Scout to see that it was the teacher’s first di Dwyer 3 thinks is the right thing and goes to church. Society impacts Scout’s life on a daily basis and in many ways. AN sai Qn iy i on, Scout's family has the largest influence gir ‘The influence of Scout’s family can elataesy be seen in the decisions she makes everyday. Scout's family has shaped her into the person she mn now is. Atticus Finch is always trying to teach his children important lessons. One of the most consider things from his point of view" (39). Atticus tells Scout this after her teacher was meair’) MMe and it was rough, that is why she ‘was mean to Scout. Scout uses this skill of empath; shout the book to fry and be understand others. As she gets cups she suo better understand thil skill, aly sna IEP pect \hg bgk she has prcicaty\Wacna VO it By using what she has leamed from her father, she better understands the people around her and what they are feeling. Aunt Alexandra also teaches Scout life lessons, but a different set of lessons than the ones she learns from Atticus, While Alexandra believes she is better than others, Atticus believes more in equality. Their opinions influence Scout because she hears two different sides to certain topics. Scout would like to invite Walter Cunningham over for dinner one night, but Aunt Alexandra will not have that. Alexandra knows that she is a higher class than the Cunninghams and “Finch women aren’t interested in that sort of people” is her excuse to not invite them (300). Scout continues to argue about Walte! ni vw coming over, but Aunt Alexandra sticks to her answer of no. Alexandra wants Scout and Jem to yi yf follow her and act as though they are better than everyone else because their higher class. Aunt |\\ e Alexandra also knows no one will blame the Finches for acting better because it is expected of them to do so. They are of the “higher class” compared to the Cunninghams. While Alexandra ya aM anti ey “ll the children what to do. Atticus allowing Calpunia to have s Dwyer 4 believes this to be so, Attius strongly disagrees. This can sometimes create confusion when it comes to certain topies like Walter Cunningham coming over. Normally he would be able to come over without a problem, but since Alexandra is here, he cannot come over because he does not meet her standards. These influences affect Scout’s choice of friends because now she cannot play with Walter. She can only play with children that meet Aunt Alexandra’s standards. Another lesson Atticus taught Scout is equality. He showed this skill mostly through Calpumnia. While most African American cooks would not have any authority, Calpurnia does. Since Scout and Jem’s mother passed away, Calpuria has really taken on the role of mother figure. tis, ‘f nusual for an African American woman to have any authority but Atticus allows Calpurnia to wet ey a monumental role in gf w Scout's life has also shown Scout what it is like to be a woman. In watching Calpurnia, Scout admires Calpurnia’s movements and how ancens ll is. wilt watches Calpumnia in the kitchen, she starts to see that there is some skill involved with being a girl. Through her family’s aig Jeams the important skills of empathy, equality, and being a lady. The Goverment greatly influences Scout’s childhood, The world is not always fair. Sadly, Scout learns this in the course of the trial. She learns this lesson through the unfair verdict of the trial, but also in just the way she and her family were treated for defending an African q American man. Many people disagree with Atticus defending an African American man. Those\)\\) “ib people take out their anger by harassing the Finches and calling them names. Through this Iv ap Proven Sout can also see how unfairly and unequally African Americans were treated. What the Finches had to go through is what the African Americans have to go through everyday. She sees that many people are treated unfairly just because of the color of their skin. A lot of AfticanDwyer 5 Americans are truly good people and many whites are evil people. People are not judged based wit? , vt on their actions or words, but instead are judged by the color of their skin and their rank in ye \ society. The trial also shows Scout that African Americans are always found guilty, even if thes iy vi ) are truly innocent. In the story Tom Robinson is accused of rape and agi guilty. Everyone ya knew that Tom Robinson was innocent, but they determine him “Guilty...guilty...guilty, ily. 282), ‘The only reason they decided he was guilty was because he was Aftican American and Mayella Ewell was white. In every trial the African American is wo always guilty and the whites are always innocent. Through this process Scout sees how ine intr a Nv ail the African Americans are treated by the government. Bob Ewell, the person actually guilty of beating Mayella, will get to freely walk the streets while an innocent man is locked up. This is a ‘ough thing for anyone to see especially an innocent child like Scout. Through the tp seo \ also learns that while a trial should be fair, itis not always that way. Atticus is disgusted by this, ath ake believes that the “one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he tis Color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury \ \ Pex” (295), Atticus was frustrated that the jury determined ‘Tom Robinson guilty. Scout sees how unfairly the African Americans are treated in the place where rules were written to ensure everyone is treated equally. Everyone knows that Tom Robinson is innocent, but they still find ‘him guilty. Atticus has hope that one day there will be equality, but for now nothing is fait for African Americans. She also sees that guilty people walk away freely and she realizes how unjust this is. The trail affected a large part of Scout’s childhood; she had to deal with it and i repercussions for awhileDwyer 6 Scout is a product of the influences of society, family, and government. Scout leams some hard lessons about life, but with the help of her family she gets through it. At the end rte \pok|she had almost mastered the skills her father taught her. She does not allow society or the trabring her down or change her. She had to deal with alot of| 890d and bad issues growing up; but in the end she was able to lear from both the good influences and the bad ones to make her the person she is,