Scout
Introduction
In bildungsroman, goes from age 6 – age 9
At the beginning, she is an imperceptive, innocent child
Doesn’t comprehend the importance of understanding and empathy
Learns about true courage, detriment of prejudice and value of education
Narrator, her rites of passage – themes of innocence, bravery, prejudice and understanding.
Education
Becomes immediately evident that Scout is an intelligent character, especially in her contextual
classroom whereby most children have come from rural backgrounds. As well as the fact that she is
already literate when she starts school: ‘Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One
does not love breathing.’, the witty and mature observations she makes through her narration
convey how she is a bright child.
Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, is a young lady who is an outsider in Maycomb, coming from
North Alabama, and unaware of their confining traditions. However, her reaction to Scout’s
premature literacy: ‘looked at me with more than faint distaste.’, telling Scout that she must stop
reading with her father bewilders and upsets Scout. Following Atticus’ nurturing and encouraging
attitude towards education, she is shocked by the school’s discouragement of her individual
learning. The contradictory actions of the education system in the 1930s Southern States conveys
the government’s desire to retain superiority and enforce uniformity on the students. The appalling
nature of this oppression is designed to impress on the reader Harper Lee’s critique of the
education system at this time, which forced everyone to conform and lose their individuality.
‘If you concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night.’ – The fact that
Atticus is aware of the importance of Scout being educated, despite her initial negative experience
there, conveys Harper Lee’s message of change being achieved through people bettering
themselves and absolving society of the ignorance which causes hatred and prejudice to be rife. In
addition, Atticus’ method of respecting his children’s perspectives and treating them as equals
provides a sharp contrast to the traditional disciplinarian parenting of the 1930s. Aunt Alexandra
highlights the typical dominance and dictation asserted by many parents, which emphasises Atticus’
reformative methods.
‘It don’t matter who they are… anybody sets foot in this house yo’ comp’ny.’ – Calpurnia teaches
Scout a harsh lesson about tolerance towards other people and how you should never make any
else feel inferior due to social status or wealth. This lesson, amalgamated with what she learns from
Atticus who is really her primary teacher, reflects how the insufficiency of school has to be
combatted by the moral people around her.
‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view’. In the
morbid and thoughtless fantasises that the children create about Boo Radley, feeding off callous
speculations and making him into a monster, Harper Lee displays the detriment that is born from
people being ignorant, portraying the key message of education being the key to freeing the world
from prejudice.
Prejudice and Ignorance
Scout’s ignorance is initially presented by her lack of appreciation for her father, because of his
deficiency in physical or masculine attributes. Atticus is possibly the most morally upstanding,
formidable characters in the novel, but Scout’s inability to comprehend his diplomatic value is
portrayed by her imperceptive belief that he did not ‘do anything that could possibly arouse the
admiration of anyone’. This clearly shows that she is too young and childish to comprehend Atticus’
maxim of tolerance and understanding.
Introduction
In bildungsroman, goes from age 6 – age 9
At the beginning, she is an imperceptive, innocent child
Doesn’t comprehend the importance of understanding and empathy
Learns about true courage, detriment of prejudice and value of education
Narrator, her rites of passage – themes of innocence, bravery, prejudice and understanding.
Education
Becomes immediately evident that Scout is an intelligent character, especially in her contextual
classroom whereby most children have come from rural backgrounds. As well as the fact that she is
already literate when she starts school: ‘Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One
does not love breathing.’, the witty and mature observations she makes through her narration
convey how she is a bright child.
Scout’s teacher, Miss Caroline Fisher, is a young lady who is an outsider in Maycomb, coming from
North Alabama, and unaware of their confining traditions. However, her reaction to Scout’s
premature literacy: ‘looked at me with more than faint distaste.’, telling Scout that she must stop
reading with her father bewilders and upsets Scout. Following Atticus’ nurturing and encouraging
attitude towards education, she is shocked by the school’s discouragement of her individual
learning. The contradictory actions of the education system in the 1930s Southern States conveys
the government’s desire to retain superiority and enforce uniformity on the students. The appalling
nature of this oppression is designed to impress on the reader Harper Lee’s critique of the
education system at this time, which forced everyone to conform and lose their individuality.
‘If you concede the necessity of going to school, we’ll go on reading every night.’ – The fact that
Atticus is aware of the importance of Scout being educated, despite her initial negative experience
there, conveys Harper Lee’s message of change being achieved through people bettering
themselves and absolving society of the ignorance which causes hatred and prejudice to be rife. In
addition, Atticus’ method of respecting his children’s perspectives and treating them as equals
provides a sharp contrast to the traditional disciplinarian parenting of the 1930s. Aunt Alexandra
highlights the typical dominance and dictation asserted by many parents, which emphasises Atticus’
reformative methods.
‘It don’t matter who they are… anybody sets foot in this house yo’ comp’ny.’ – Calpurnia teaches
Scout a harsh lesson about tolerance towards other people and how you should never make any
else feel inferior due to social status or wealth. This lesson, amalgamated with what she learns from
Atticus who is really her primary teacher, reflects how the insufficiency of school has to be
combatted by the moral people around her.
‘You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view’. In the
morbid and thoughtless fantasises that the children create about Boo Radley, feeding off callous
speculations and making him into a monster, Harper Lee displays the detriment that is born from
people being ignorant, portraying the key message of education being the key to freeing the world
from prejudice.
Prejudice and Ignorance
Scout’s ignorance is initially presented by her lack of appreciation for her father, because of his
deficiency in physical or masculine attributes. Atticus is possibly the most morally upstanding,
formidable characters in the novel, but Scout’s inability to comprehend his diplomatic value is
portrayed by her imperceptive belief that he did not ‘do anything that could possibly arouse the
admiration of anyone’. This clearly shows that she is too young and childish to comprehend Atticus’
maxim of tolerance and understanding.
