Scout’s Journey to Womanhood

As girls grow in life, they mature and change into women. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, begins to mature into a woman. In the beginning of the book, she is a tomboy who cannot wait to pick a fistfight with anyone, but at the end, she lowers her fists because her father, Atticus, tells her not to fight. Scout’s views of womanhood, influenced by how Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie, and Calpurnia act, make her think more about becoming a woman and less of a tomboy.

In the beginning of the book, Scout is a tomboy. She acts, dresses, and walks like a boy because when she was little her mom died, leaving her in a house with two men, Jem and Atticus. Scout has a lot of masculine influence but no feminine influence. Scout also has a raging temper, a manly trait, which she develops by hanging around boys too much. For example, one day at school, she punches Walter Cunningham for embarrassing her in front of the new teacher, and when she gets home, Atticus lectures her and tells her to control her temper and never to punch anyone ever again. Instead of acting like a girl, she goes hunting, swimming, and running around with boys, in boys clothes. Scout does not want to be a woman. Jem tells Scout, “It’s time you started bein’ a girl and acting right” (115) as opposed to earlier when he told Scout to stop acting like a girl. Scout gets all offended when he says both of these because she had always wanted to be exactly like Jem, which is why she always acts like a boy and never like a girl. Later in the book she says, “Ladies seem to live in faint horror of men . . . But I liked them. There was something about them, no matter how much they cussed and drank and gambled and chew. No matter how delectable they were, there was something about them that I instinctively like” (234). Now she likes men because in her opinion they are better and more fun, as opposed to her liking them just because of Jem. Her views on womanhood are based on the women around her, and she does not like the women in Maycomb. In addition, Atticus does not feel in a hurry to make her into a woman, figuring she is young, so she can hunt, play, and get herself dirty. Although, when Aunt Alexandra comes to live with them, it is a different story.

Aunt Alexandra, who is all about image, comes to stay with Atticus and the kids so she can preserve the family name. The first thing she does when she arrives is criticize Scout for acting like a boy: “We decided it best for you to have some feminine influence” (127) and Scout does not like Aunt Alexandra trying to change her, so she resists the change despite Aunt Alexandra attempts. As a last resort, she gets Atticus to talk to her and Jem.

“She asked me to tell you you must try to behave like the little lady and gentleman that you are. She wants to talk to you about the family and what it’s meant to Maycomb County though the years, so you’ll have some idea of who you are, so you might be moved to behave accordingly.” (133)

Aunt Alexandra is mad at Atticus for defending Tom in the trial because it does not look good for the family name. At the tea party Scout’s views on Aunt Alexandra change, “When she had them on the road, Aunt Alexandra stepped back. She gave Miss Maudie a look of pure gratitude, and I wondered at the world of women. Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra had never been especially clock and here was Aunty silently thanking her for something” (233). Scout respects Aunt Alexandra a lot more after this scene happens; she sees that womanhood is not exactly how she imagines it and that it might not be that bad after all.

Aunt Alexandra is a total opposite of Miss Maudie, the kind woman who lives across the street, and is always there for Scout to talk to. She does not judge people based on what she hears from the other women in town, but rather simply lives her life maintaining a broad-minded view about the trial and many other things. She calls Scout “Jean Louise” and Boo Radley “Arthur,” showing both of them the respect they deserve. Miss Maudie is another woman who Scout is around a lot, especially when Jem starts ignoring Scout and ditching her for football. Miss Maudie changes Scout’s perception of womanhood because in the morning, Miss Maudie is dressed in overalls and “men’s clothing,” but at night, she changes into a dress and looks gorgeous showing Scout that being a woman does not mean that every hour one has to be in a dress looking beautiful. Miss Maudie is a role model for Scout. They sit on her porch and talk just like a mother and daughter, “In summertime, twilights are long and peaceful. Often as not, Miss Maudie and I would sit silently on her porch watching the sky go form yellow to pink as the sun went down” (43). Miss Maudie is there for Scout to lean on and supports her during tough times