Essay Sample: Social Expectations in To Kill a Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel about a family named the Finches. Scout, Jem, and their widowed father Atticus live in Alabama. Although this book is not a true one, it is a semi-autobiographical book that portrays Harper Lee's experiences during the time. When this book was written, Southern societies had many expectations for the citizens of the town. There were many standards that people would hold during the time and one was the social expectations for young girls and boys. Young boys were pressured to act like gentlemen, and young girls were to act proper and wear dresses. If they went against these ideologies, then they could have been looked at as if they were acting unladylike or not like a gentleman. Since these standards were put in place, the idea of how social expectations are pushed upon children from a young age makes them question who they want to be or how they want to act. In the novel, Lee utilized characters who are young and naive to show the gender expectations so that readers can see how they were pushed on children before they could realize it.

Throughout the novel, gender expectations were shown through many characters. One of the examples is the main character, Scout. One of the first examples we see of social expectations happens fairly early in the book. Scout was told that it is not ladylike to “tell all you know” after asking Calpurnia why she talks differently in her church (Lee 143). Scout looks up to Calpurnia so for her to tell Scout that some things are better to keep to herself may cause her to feel obligated to act more ladylike. Since Calpurnia is one of Scout's few female influences in her life, whatever Calperinia says, Scout is bound to listen to, along with the fact that Calpernia is one of her caretakers. After being told it's unladylike to display her smarts, she might downplay her knowledge and no longer show it to people. Scout may also now choose to act as if she has little knowledge just to fit the role of being ladylike. Furthermore, when Scout tells Miss Stephanie that she wants to grow up to be “just a lady,” Miss Stephanie replies “Well, you won't get very far until you start wearing dresses more often” (Lee 263).  Scout could perceive this as that if she does not dress like a lady than she will never be successful. This expectation of girls dressing like ladies is constantly being pushed on Scout and now she is being told that she will not get far in life if she does not dress like a girl. This could affect the way Scout now acts and dresses because if she ever wants to be successful, she will have to act like a lady to do so. Lastly, when Scout is not being scolded to act more ladylike or wear a dress, there are subtle expectations for Scout. “You'll have a very unladylike scar on your wedding- ring finger,” says Uncle Jack when bandaging Scout's finger (Lee 98). Just saying a scar is unladylike shows how girls were supposed to be as flawless as possible. Scout now may not participate in certain activities in order to keep a more ladylike body with no scars. Thus, Scout is pressured to act ladylike throughout the novel. However, if she dares not to then society will belittle her. Consequently, this will cause changes in the way Scout acts as an outcome of social expectations.

Girls were not the only ones who had experienced social expectations at the time, but boys did as well. Despite the fact boys were supposed to act manly, they also were instilled with the idea of girls having to act like girls. A character that shows both of these is Jem. Whenever Jem’s masculinity is interfered with, he gets very defensive. This is shown when Scout leaves the tire in the Radley's yard, and Scout says “why don't you get it” when Jem tells her to get it (Lee 42). After Scout says this, Jem goes quiet. Jem was scared of going into the Radley's front yard to get the tire but did not want to admit it. After this, he quickly runs to get the tire, then insults Scout's gender. This little incident between the two shows how men were supposed to not be scared, but instead, be very masculine. Adding on, when Jem tells Scout that “it’s time [she] started bein’ a girl and acting right” after an altercation the two had, Jem shows how he thinks girls were supposed to always comply with what they were being told. (Lee 129).  Jem is showing that he wants Scout to change so she can fit with his idea of how a girl should be. This indicates the number of expectations there were considering that even Jem is telling Scout how she should be acting. Also, when Jem and Dill were trying to break into the Radley's house, Scout comes up to them and starts pestering them. Jem then tells Scout that she is “getting more like a girl everyday” (58). This reveals that women were people who did not lead exciting lives and stayed inside, while boys were the ones who went outside and who would be more adventurous. All in all, Jem shows how social expectations did not only affect young girls but also affected young boys with their behavior and their outlook on girls.

An example of the outcome of social expectations is Aunt Alexandra. Alexandra is the typical southern bell who is poised and proper and acts exactly how women were expected to act. So, whenever she was with Scout, she always had a problem with her because she was not like a typical girl. “She said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants” states Scout (Lee 92). This shows how girls were supposed to not do much active work, but rather stay at home and gossip like Aunt Alexandra is portrayed doing multiple times. This also shows that Alexandra was surrounded and instilled with gender expectations, which resulted in her pressuring Scout to be more ladylike. Moreover, one of the first things Alexandra said when she moved in with the Finch family was “Jean Louise, stop scratching your head” (Lee 144). Alexandra wastes no time in correcting Scout’s unrefined behavior. This validates the fact that she grew up with expectations since she quickly noticed an unladylike act from Scout and corrected her right away without even saying hello to her family. Continuing, Aunt Alexandra pressured Scout to “behave like a sunbeam” as well (Lee 93). Alexandra seems to think that in order to be a proper lady you have to be a sunbeam. Therefore, in her attempt to get Scout to act more like a lady, she tells her that she has to act like a sunbeam. Aunt Alexandra is an outcome of social expectations. She shows this in the way she treats Scout, and her many attempts to get Scout to act more like a lady as well.

To Kill a Mockingbird brings readers on the journey through Harper Lee's perspective of a world where there were many social expectations pushed on children from a young age, which ultimately led to them questioning who they want to be and how they want to act. The younger characters, like Scout and Jem, portray the expectations that were set in place at the time, and older characters, like Aunt Alexandra, portrayed the outcome of the social expectations. Lee shows readers a world that once existed where girls had to live under the expectations of dressing properly and acting like a lady, and where boys were expected to be tough and strong. A world where you had to meet the expectations or else you would be ridiculed or looked at differently. Imagine having to live in a world like that. Luckily, today's society has come a long way, for people are allowed to act and dress as they please. Even though it is more socially acceptable to dress and act how you would like, there are still people in this world who make fun of and harshly criticize others. This is something that should have been left back in the 1930s. Instead of the criticism of others being brushed away, it should be socially acceptable to call people out for judging and criticizing others.