Caged Beauty in Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

In the early nineteenth century, women were measured as second-class citizens whose existence was narrowed down to the interior life of the home and the care of them children. After marriage, they did not have any rights to own property, maintain their wages, or sign a contract, and were unable to vote. It was expected that women be dutiful wives, never to hold a thought or opinion independent of their husbands. It was also considered inappropriate for women to travel alone or to speak in public. Women were also taught to cease from pursuing any serious education. Silently floating in their cages, they were seen as merely objects of beauty, and were looked upon as intellectually and physically substandard to men. However, among these simple housekeepers are social reformers, wonderful mothers, and powerful women of faith who changed the world by changing their own. In To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, little Scout is nurtured throughout her whole life by her only parent, her father. Without a mother by her side to teach her the manners, Scout, instead of wearing dresses and learning to behave like a lady at her age, wears overalls, fights, and learns to use foul language. The most significant role a woman must carry is the responsibility of being a mother. A traditional mother is often defined as a loving woman, giving her child tender caresses, guiding it throughout the early years of its upbringing and teaching it right from wrong. Mothers living today, who are creating their mark, make a difference in the world everyday. As we highlight the role of the mother, this is not to say that the father is not important or is less important. In To Kill a Mocking Bird, Scout’s father, Atticus nurtures her and her brother alone as a single parent. Atticus Finch, a lawyer and devoted father, is an intelligent man whose knowledge, consistency, and ability to see past the ill in people are what make him respected by everyone. He is a good role model and proper guide towards his children and is devoted to bringing them up right despite criticism from his family and neighbors saying that they lack discipline and proper guidance. But as the story goes on, it is shown that this isn’t true at all. Scout and Jem seem to learn more about socially succeeding and being a good person in general from Atticus than anywhere else.