Being a lady or gentleman in Maycomb County, Alabama is much more than just being proper. Taking place in the early 1930’s, everything is different and more reserved. Racial tensions are soaring, the Great Depression is raging, all while rays change is trying to peak through the clouds of tradition. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the author states that a lady or gentleman has both integrity and is civilised. Lee indicates through behaviour and actions, treatment of others, and how he or she uses power, one can become or is considered a lady or gentleman. Characters throughout the novel such as Jem, Scout, and Bob Ewell are used to prove this argument. In the beginning of the story, the narrator, Jean Louise “Scout”
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This derives from the norm as she talks back and often gets into fist fights over little things. However, as she continues to grow older, she greatly matures and starts to act like a lady such as when Arthur “Boo” Radley is at her house. Although this is the first time that she has met him, Scout is both very respectful and hospitable to him. In earlier chapters, she, Dill, and Jem harassed Boo while attempting to get him out of his house. Now, when she gestures towards him to tell Mr Tate who saved her, she “half pointed to the man in the corner” (362) because “it was impolite to point” (362). Scout remembered some basic etiquette, which earlier, she would have disregarded. Furthermore, when Boo is clearly shy and ill at ease in her house, Scout endeavours to make him feel as welcome and relaxed as possible by offering him a seat away from everyone and escorting him home. While doing so, she makes it appear as if he is the one escorting her down the walk “as any gentleman would do” (373) in the event anybody were to notice the pair. While she has much to learn, because of her experiences and becoming older, Scout now understands the true meaning of behaving and the actuality of being a lady slightly more. On the contrary, Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, has demonstrated that he
This derives from the norm as she talks back and often gets into fist fights over little things. However, as she continues to grow older, she greatly matures and starts to act like a lady such as when Arthur “Boo” Radley is at her house. Although this is the first time that she has met him, Scout is both very respectful and hospitable to him. In earlier chapters, she, Dill, and Jem harassed Boo while attempting to get him out of his house. Now, when she gestures towards him to tell Mr Tate who saved her, she “half pointed to the man in the corner” (362) because “it was impolite to point” (362). Scout remembered some basic etiquette, which earlier, she would have disregarded. Furthermore, when Boo is clearly shy and ill at ease in her house, Scout endeavours to make him feel as welcome and relaxed as possible by offering him a seat away from everyone and escorting him home. While doing so, she makes it appear as if he is the one escorting her down the walk “as any gentleman would do” (373) in the event anybody were to notice the pair. While she has much to learn, because of her experiences and becoming older, Scout now understands the true meaning of behaving and the actuality of being a lady slightly more. On the contrary, Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, has demonstrated that he