In terms of her social identity, she is unusual for being a tomboy in the prim and proper Southern world of Maycomb. One quickly realizes when reading To Kill a Mockingbird that Scout is who she is because of the way Atticus has raised her. He has nurtured her mind, conscience, and individuality without bogging her down in fussy social hypocrisies and notions of propriety. At the beginning of the novel, Scout is an innocent, good-hearted five-year-old child who has no experience with the evils of the world.
As the novel progresses, Scout has her first contact with evil in the form of racial prejudice, and the basic development of her character is governed by the question of whether she will emerge from that contact with her conscience and optimism intact or whether she will be bruised, hurt, or destroyed like Boo Radley and Tom Robinson.
Ace your assignments with our guide to To Kill a Mockingbird! Jekyll and Mr. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. At the end of the novel, when the trial is over and Bob Ewell attacks Scout and Jem on Halloween, Scout is once more at the center of events. She sentimentalizes Calpurnia without considering how Calpurnia herself feels about devoting her entire life to the Finch family, at times sleeping on a cot in their kitchen and raising Scout and Jem as her own children.
Ace your assignments with our guide to To Kill a Mockingbird! A Tale of Two Cities Dr. Jekyll and Mr. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. How is Tom Robinson a mockingbird? What does the rabid dog Atticus shoots symbolize? How did Jem break his arm? What is the significance of the gifts Boo Radley leaves in the knothole?
Many of the boys at school are intimidated by her physical strength, yet she is told she must learn to handle herself in a ladylike way. Oddly enough, the women in her life impose more rigid requirements on her than the men do. Scout's tomboyishness drives Aunt Alexandra to distraction; Miss Caroline sees Scout's outspokenness and honesty as impertinence. Ironically, the person she most wants to please — Atticus — is least concerned about her acting in a certain way.
In fact she tells Jem, "'I asked him [Atticus] if I was a problem and he said not much of one, at most one he could always figure out, and not to worry my head a second about botherin' him.
The other lesson that Scout is truly able to incorporate into her worldview is the necessity of walking in someone else's shoes. Atticus begins teaching her the importance of looking at things from the other person's point-of-view very early in the story. He points out her own failings in this area and demonstrates his point in his own interactions with other people. At the end of the story, Scout can put herself in Boo Radley's shoes, the person she's feared most throughout the story.
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