To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about self-identity, too, and one’s struggle to find it. This is more evident in Scout’s character vs. Boo’s.
In studying the world around her, Scout understands that if there is to be change in Maycomb’s society, she must remain an underdog. One day, when the time is right, she will come out of her house, like Boo, and finally share her story. Since the book is written from the perspective of an older Jean Louise, one can say that Scout has finally succeeded.
Going off the last point, To Kill a Mockingbird allows the reader not only to question the idea of sexual identity but also what it takes to change from a girl to a woman. At the beginning of the novel, Scout is primarily known for three things: her tomboyish-like ways, her overalls, and her name, but no one knows of the internal conflict she’s facing as she tries to come to terms with who she wants to grow up to be. She shows this through her use of foul language, her refusal to wear dresses, and her emotional reactions when a peer or family member tells her to change her behavior. Even with the constant pressure on her shoulders, she still finds a way to counter them: whether that’s through words or actions (like almost starting fights in school). Yet, like Clare in the book Passing, Scout finds a way to blend in with society and then practice her tomboy-like ways when she’s not surrounded by people who want to judge her.
When she reaches the end of her story, Scout takes this lesson and applies it to Boo Radley, trying to see the world through his eyes. She’s clearly a little upset when he has to return home because she finally gets a sense of what could happen—she could lose her freedom—if she waits as long as Boo to show her true side. Scout values her freedom, like a mockingbird, and she feels bad that Boo wasn’t able to experience it with her. Boo was one of the few characters she ever looked up to, even though she never saw him, because she felt a sense of security and belonging every time she and Jem walked by his house, much like the freak shows Welty mentions in her article. It is this realization and coming-of-age story that make Scout (and Boo) loveable characters, and why To Kill a Mockingbird became so famous in the first place. While scholars may argue that the book is not about being queer, I will vouch that it is what drives the whole story. Scout learns to be brave with Jem, and it helps her, as an older Jean Louise, to write her story.
The journey of selfhood is a common theme in literature, but it was especially important in To Kill a Mockingbird, given the severity of the Great Depression. As Jonathan Daniels mentioned in his book, it hit the American South hard, and those who survived it were almost forced to change how they lived to accommodate the shift from the past to modern society. But since the human brain is a complex organ, it can sometimes be difficult for it to accept change, so it kicks into flight-or-fight and tries to carry on with old traditions, rather than new ones (Rose 202).
The town of Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird has not yet evolved to the point that they can live in unification. This is especially prevalent in the character of Aunt Alexandra, who forces Scout to act like a woman to blend in with old traditions, rather than new ones. Yet, a few characters have accepted the cultural change: Raymond, Atticus, and even Cal and Dill. Scout’s strength of observation allows her to study them and then apply what she’s learned to herself, and it allows her to thrive at the end of the book, now knowing that Boo Radley most likely struggled just as much, but it was Scout who allowed him to come out of his shell. They are the true gems of the book because they are so different. As the world continues to change and become more open about themselves being queer, Scout will finally not have to hide from the world anymore. She’ll be able to save it just like Boo—for she is a mockingbird, and her wings will take her to great heights in the years to come, as more and more people read her story.
ns216.73.216.37da2
and then Add to home screen.