How Does Miss Maudie Use Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

Society tends to imprison our minds and reform them a certain way. To Kill a Mockingbird uses discrimination and prejudice to do so. The novel takes place in Alabama during the Great Depression, and is narrated by Jean Louise "Scout" Finch. Her dad, Atticus Finch, is a lawyer with high standards. Due to the images society characterizes on Boo Radley, a local neighbor, forces Scout, her brother Jem, and their neighbor Dill, to be misled by the rumors. Legend has it that he once stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, and he is made out to be a kind of monster. Until one day Miss Maudie's(also a neighbor) house burns down in the winter and Boo secretly gives Scout a blanket. Later in the book Atticus takes on Tom Robinson's court case and attempts to defend him from the
At this time in history all men did the labor, hence making certain stereotypes and limits for women. Scout, growing up without a mother figure in her life was unaware of these stereotypes. She was her brother’s shadow, doing the things he did and dressing the way he did. However when Aunt Alexandra arrives Scout is thrown into a world of femininity, in that event having to change her ways. Scout illustrates her feelings towards the situation by stating, “I felt the starched walls of a pink cotton penitentiary closing in on me, and for the second time in my life I thought of running away. Immediately” (Lee 155). This quote expresses Scout’s perception on being feminine. By portraying femininity as a penitentiary suggests that she feels trapped in these stereotypes she’s learning. Even more so, Jill May adds “Even Atticus, the liberal minded hero, says that perhaps it's best to keep women off the juries of Alabama because, I doubt if we'd ever get a complete case tried the ladies'd be interrupting to ask questions”, ergo demonstrating that even the “moral compass” of the book has been mutated to believe this unruly