To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of a girl, Scout, who is influenced daily by her environment. This includes her friends, family, and other members of society. Throughout the book, Scout overcomes popular belief in order to understand the world around her as well as her role in society. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, she demonstrates bildungsroman by looking through the eyes of a child as she matures for the duration of the book and comes to terms with discrimination.
One obstacle that Scout must come to terms with are gender roles in society. In the beginning of the novel Scout is flustered with the fact that her brother, Jem, is trying to force her to mature into a young lady. In an early chapter, Jem had said, “‘It’s time you started bein’ a girl and acting right!’ I burst into tears and fled to Calpurnia” (Lee 115). Scout didn’t believe that it was fair that she needed to act like a lady and grow up. However, in the chapters that later …show more content…
This controversy is non other than racism. Scout starts off as being very racist for a child her age. This is mostly due to the book taking place in the 1930’s as well as Scout having extremely racist school friends and neighbors. Scout had shown concern that her father was helping a black person in earlier chapters. She had shown her concern by saying the words, “‘You aren’t really a n****r-lover, then, are you?’” (Lee 107). This statement also relates to the her beliefs of equality in society because she shows that different kinds of people have a different stature. After the unfair trial of Tom Robinson where he was found guilty, even though he was clearly innocent, Scout began to open her eyes and truly realize that there isn’t a difference between a black man and a white man. She began to wonder why black people were treated so unfairly. She believes that there should be equality and justice for