EMMA-ROSE NIXON- SET 2- 11D/21
Question: In what ways is scout a significant character in the novel?
*you must consider the context of the novel
*use evidence to support your answer In the story "to kill a mockingbird,' the narrator is named Scout, originally she was named Jean Louise Finch. In the book, is looking back as an adult to the two years of her life when she learned about courage and kindness and the importance of doing what is right. She learned from her father and her neighbours that doing what is right isn't always rewarded, but it's the right thing to do and that protecting innocence is a large part of that. What makes her such a significant character is the fact that at the age five-and-a-half, when the novel begins, she was already a very unusual little girl, both in her own qualities and in her social position. She is unusually intelligent, confident, thoughtful, and at such a young age posses good morals. In terms of her social identity, she is unusual for being a tomboy in the stereotypical old fashion deep Southern world of Maycomb. Jean Louise Finch, whose nickname is Scout, she has a habit, of speaking her mind in the presence of grownups, which we learn early on . This makes Scout, aged five, seem older than her years. In recalling her first day in the first grade, Scout thinks of herself and her schoolmates as little adults, who must take care of the confused first-year teachers. We get a feel for her superior intelligence from her first day at school because she gets told off for being able to read and write: " she discovered that I was literate and looked at me with more than faint distaste". This displays that Scout's teacher does not approve of her advanced reading skills, portraying her true intelligence in black and white, who has seemed to grow as a bright, unconventional child by growing up within a household enabling easy access to newspapers and books. Therefore, due to the fact that Atticus brought her up surrounding her with intelligence, Scout made it her job to read and write, perhaps too early for the deep south to keep up with. Scout is also something of an outsider. A tomboy, she is still not completely accepted by her brother Jem and their friend Dill due to segregation and sexism. We never hear of her having any close friends of her own age, either boys or girls. And in contrast to Jem, who is constantly disappointed by the shortcomings of human nature, Scout seems to take bad news in her stride. The fact she portrays

herself as a tomboy, her Aunt, a traditionalist, un-feminist, lady disapproves of Scout's lack of motherly figures in her every day life, therefore her anut, Alexander, goes to the extreme to try to change, the stubborn child that is Scout. One quickly realizes when reading To Kill a Mockingbird, that Scout is who she is because of the way Atticus has raised her, which inevitably his sister Alexandra does not take well to. He has nurtured her mind, conscience, and individuality without forcing her to follow the social hypocrisies and the traditional views of propriety. While most girls in Scout’s position would be wearing dresses and learning manners, Scout, thanks to Atticus’s hands-off parenting style, wears overalls and learns to climb trees with Jem and Dill, fulfilling the 'tomboy' character Harper Lee purposely created. Her tomboy ways are so known by people, that her uncle even takes it to the point where he makes a pun about what she wears: " you're also growing out of your pants a little..." by saying that, uncle Jack is referring to her cheeky behaviour and to her tomboy nature, she rarely wears dresses, which she learns will get in the way of her becoming a 'lady'. If she was to be the stereotypical polite young girl that would have been accepted in that day and age, she would not have been such a significant character because for her tomboyish ways she learnt not to be afraid which unravels my next point into the fact that she has good