Are the characters in Mockingbird stereotypes? If so, explain why Harper Lee used
stereotypes. If not, explain how the characters merit individuality.
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12 comments:
I truly believe that most of the secondary characters all reflect stereotypes. For example, Aunt Alexandra acts very much like a "lady" and tries to educate Scout into acting like one ,too. "Aunt Alexandra was a fanatical of my atire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches..."(Lee 81)
I think Harper Lee uses stereotypes to help us locate the culture and thoughts of the character in the story. For example, we are in the
21st century, some of us wouldn't know that women before weren't allowed to wear pants, the author then must put stereotypes to tell us about that. Also, Lee uses stereotypes to help explain how people viewed one another during that time period.
Stereotypes were originally created to make people understand somebody they don't know. For example, Koreans are always good at math, or Italians fall in love all the time. Most of these stereotypes can be occasionally true, but in most cases it is not. I find no reason why not use stereotypes, IF you don't take them word by word. You should use them as information, then put them to the test.
I think tha Harper Lee uses stereotypes in some characters and doesn't in others. She doesn't with Atticus because he's not the tipic white racist man. I think she does with cahracters like Mrs. Caroline because some teachers are like her, that they wnat to prove to everyone that they're right while thy might not be. Another character in which i think she doesn't use stereotypes is Mrs. Dubose. She's a very gentle woman but at the same time she is strong and proud when she wants to. As Maria said Aunt Alexandra is a perfact example of a streotype Harper Lee uses. This because she's very ladylike and want her niece to be just like her.
The characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are an exemplary of a stereotype. Lee described Scout that she didn’t wear dresses or learns how to be a ‘lady’. Because of her ‘tomboy’ temperament, she often finds conflict with Aunt Alexandra. This description tells the audience that back in the time when Lee wrote the book, a lady should wear a dress and stay calm instead of being active. Atticus is written as a very intelligent and wise. He is the exemplary behaviour. Atticus is respected by anyone in the town, irrelevant to whoever it is. He may represent the stereotype that a gentleman has to be wise and calm. Miss Maudie is a very polite, positive, and a jovial lady. She likes to take care of her garden and bake cakes. Miss Maudie, relating to Scout, also tells the readers that gardening and cooking should be done and enjoyed by women.
I think that Haper Lee uses stereotypes. I believe this because, first of all, the setting is the south where women have to be women and men need to behave like men. Harper Lee also uses stereotypes to show how the southerners were in that time period and how they had to act like to fit in. That is why Scout stands out, because she is a tomboy and spends time with her brother and plays boys' games. That is also why Atticus stands out, because he is defending a black man in a court case. So I pretty much agree with maria, augusta, and jenny in this question.
I disagree with all of the other postings because I belive that there might be a slight mix in between the two. Jem is not too stereo typical but he is what you expect from a boy during the time period. Yes, Many secondary characters are stereotypical but the main ones are mostly not. Scout, for example, is definetly not a stereotypical type of person. Neither is her father atticus by the way. Well, now it wouldn't matter but in the time that our story is taking place. He is a very respected lawyer and he is defending a black man. That is totally fine with me but not with many other people living during that time period. And the characters are also paradox. A girl owning an air rifle, not during that time. A respected white lawyer with a very much respected family defending an african-american man. But not any african-american. A farmer too. This is why I don't believe that Lee's book is based on or build upon stereotypes. Of course some of the characters that do follow some kind of stereotypical trait are necessary to have those stereotypes for the story to work.
I think that the characters in this book are very much stereotypical. Scout is the average tomboy who likes to dress like a boy and play "boy" games.
Aunt Alexandra is very girly, or ladylike. She is always prim and neat. Never makes mistakes and has manners. Many ladies are supposedly like this. Jem is an older brother who always tries to support and guide Scout. This is what all older siblings should be like, but sometimes this is not true. These are some examples of how this book has stereotypes in it.
Yes, in the book, some of the characters are stereotyped. Scout, for example, is stereotyped as a tomboy. Scout is known as the girl who does not like to dress in dresses, the girl who does not like to act like a lady, the girl who does like to curl up in a tire and roll around. Not only Scout is stereotyped in this book, but also Atiicus. I think Atticus is also stereotyped since he took Tom Robinson's case. People in Maycomb would go around calling him "n-----lover", Atticus is just trying to do the right thing. Tom Robinson is also a character being stereotyped in this book just because he is black, they all think he is guilty for raping Mayella Ewell. The character which is being stereotyped the most is Boo Radley, they all think he is crazy.
Like Jackie said, yes, i do believe that Lee does use stereotypes in the book like Aunt Alexandra as a well mannered Southern "lady”, Bob Ewell as the typical racist and discriminatory man, Scout as a tomboy, and so on. Even though Lee uses many stereotypes there are also characters that stand out for themselves like Atticus, Atticus is an outstanding character in the story because he thinks differently than others and is not hurt by what others think about him. Maybe Lee uses stereotypes to make us "crawl into their skin and walk around it" so we can understand the theme of the story better. He uses stereotypes like Alexandra, the "lady" to portray all the women in Maycomb and how they are supposed to be. Lee uses W. Cunningham, B. Ewell, and W. Cunningham's mob to portray how most men behaved in that time. When he uses stereotypes, it is also less complicated to understand how everybody was, thought, and did.
In response to Sherils comment.
Sheril,
I agree with about the fact that some people stand out like Scout, or Atticus. Scout does portray a tomboy-like personality but, scout still grows up to be more like a lady and become a stereotype in Maycombs society.
I believe that the characters in this story are indeed stereotypes. For instance, Dill is a boy who alwyas makes trouble for everyone and is totally obsesed with boo Radley. The steretype is that all naughty boys are dumb. Scout also has a stereotype of her own. She's a tomboy and she is never fully accepted by the town. the stereotype is that if you do not match into a society with every single detail, then things don't go the way you might want them to. By the looks of it, harper lee made the entire town a whole crumble of stereotypes. Almost like the every single person in the town represents his or her own stereotype.
Adrian, I do not understand how you know that Scout will grow up to be more ladylike.
Some characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are stereotypes. Scout is stereotyped as a tomboy, and Aunt Alexandra is stereotyped as the common southern lady. Scout’s stereotype is a very unique one in Maycomb, but she had all of the qualities a tomboy would have. Some characters go against the stereotypes. Walter Cunningham is nicer and smarter than the typical poor people, and Miss Maudie is definitely not like the normal southern lady. I think Harper Lee used stereotypes because it is easier to show what kind of character someone is. By applying the common characteristics on a character you can easily figure out what kind of person they are. The characters that were not stereotyped were probably there to show that stereotypes were not always true.
I agree mostly with what Yannick said. Most of the secondary characters might be stereotyped, but not all of the characters. The main characters in the story don't fit in almost any stereotype given. Scout is a tomboy, but the average thought of how girls should be is that they should be pretty and do girly stuff. Scout is nothing like that. Another stereotype is how Atticus defends Tom Robinson. Usually, white people were believed to hate black people. Harper Lee used stereotypes to tell us more about the culture and how things worked. I agree with the fact that Uin said how Adrian knew Scout would be ladylike when she grows up because it's still uncertain.
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