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To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

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Is the character Scout Finch affected by social injustice in the book To Kill a Mockingbird?  I understand how charcters such as Boo Radley and Tom Robinson have been significantly effected by social injustice but would Scout? Scout is pressured to become more like a southern lady and she struggles to keep her innocence. She is challenged to conform to a stereotype, when she would just like to follow her older brother as he seems to have more independence. Would this be classified as a social injustice?  

Scout is a victim of social injustice because she's expected to be a lady and she doesn't agree with that. She likes to do things her own way, which isn't considered the proper thing for a lady .

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Yes, one could argue that Scout is a victim of social injustice in that she's expected to conform to certain expectations of how a fine Southern lady should behave. Atticus doesn't have any such expectations; he allows Scout to do her own thing. But Aunt Alexandra is different. She's highly critical of her brother for letting Scout "run wild." She attempts to remedy what she sees as Atticus's deficiencies as a father by instructing Scout in the finer points of what it means to be a lady.

The suggestion here is that Southern women at that time had a very limited role in society. Mainly, they were confined to the home or devoted their energies to the church or charity work. But Scout is too much of an individual to conform to such a narrow view of how women should live their lives. And in any case, she has the stridently non-conformist Miss Maudie on hand as a role model to show her that Aunt Alexandra's is not the only way.

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Scout is affected by social injustice in an indirect manner, as well as having to deal with gender-specific expectations.

Much of the book focuses on Scout’s attempts to deal with the hatred directed at her father, Atticus Finch. Most of this hatred was due to the fact that Atticus was defending a black man, Tom Robinson, accused of raping a white woman. Scout finds it difficult to understand that her father could be right when so many people believe that he is wrong. Atticus’ explanations teach Scout that racism is a strong, irrational force, and that people like Atticus are needed to combat it. In this way, social injustice indirectly affects Scout’s understanding of the world, ironically in a positive manner.

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