Saturday, March 9, 2019

Masculine versus Feminine in To Kill a Mockingbird

In novels, masculine against feminine has been a popular writing technique passim musical compositiony writing achievements. Writers withstand displayed the masculine side as advantageously as the feminine to express the distinguishting of the story in which they ar trying to write. Fe young-begetting(prenominal) writers have been advi overheard to have a difficult magazine in the interpretation of male char hazarders within their writing. As Peter Shwenger states, To suggest a similar assessment of writing by men is to move us that the rich variety of writing alone (621).However, in the concur To violent death a Mockingbird, Harper lee(prenominal) is equal to(p) to express the subsidiary roles of masculinity and femininity within the story using genus genus genus Atticus Finch and Calpurnia. Atticus Finch is the ideal father and a well esteemed lawyer. Becoming widow when his children, Scout and Jem, were very young he is still adequate to(p) survive and provide a st able environment to raise his kids. Lee illustrates Atticus as the intelligent male role model he is think to be He treats his kids the same centering he treats adults.He does not talk down to them and when discussing Scout going to school he tells her, Im afraid our activities would be received with considerable disapprobation by the more learned authorities (Lee 35). Scout is used to him talking to them that way but still asks him what he means. Atticus allows his children to learn from him which in lick allows them to appreciate him more. He only wants them to do right and holds them to the same principles that he goes by.When he believes that Jem stabbed Bob Ewell, instead of trying to pay off Jem out of bowl over he tells Sherriff Heck Tate, Thank you from the bottom of my heart, but I dont want my son starting out with something like this over his head. Best way to snuff it the air is to have it all out in the open. Let the county muster and bring sandwiches. I dont wan t him growing up with a whisper to the highest degree him, I dont want anybody saying, Jem Finch his daddy pay a volume to get him out of that. Sooner we get this over with the better (314).Atticus is balancing his duties as a father and priorities as a lawyer. He wants what is best for his son and other lawyers in his same position strength have through everything in their power to prevent him from getting in trouble. Atticus, however, sees what has been done and is taking the proper action as a lawyer and a father. In the book, the pick uper sees Atticus as the hero, as a piece willing to defend something he issues he is going to lose. any of the confederacy respects him, and they do not lose respect when he takes the case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white charwoman.He goes against the community and everything they have ever known when he represents Robinson in court. During the proceedings, he keeps his composure and does not put on a theatrical s how for the town. Marie A. Failinger discusses Atticus demeanor during the trial, A man who exactly stood as witness. Just saying, simply, as he stood, that the case was about the community itself and its prejudice toward the Negro, and about whether the verdict was to be a moment lop within or sort out apart from that reality (305).This shows the type of man Atticus is. He does not allow a high profile case get in the way of doing what is right. He wants the townspeople to see what is right too. He knows how to do his job and show what kind of man he is without trying to show it. Lee is able to articulate his masculinity by describing his temperament rather than explaining his characteristics. Although Atticus is by himself in court, he receives help from Calpurnia to bring up Scout and Jem. Calpurnia is a black woman who works for Atticus.She is more a part of the family than anything else. She has been the mother figure in the lives of Scout and Jem since Scout could remembe r. She is shown throughout the book in the white creative activity of Alabama and Lee only gives the audience a small essay of what she is like in her own community. When Atticus is away she is there for the kids. She is insensitive on the rules, but is also nurturing. When Scout comes home from her first twenty-four hours of school, Calpurnia she kisses her. Scout is confused by it, but she just missed her existence home during the day.When Calpurnia takes them to church she gives them a dime and when Jem insists on using his she says, I dont want anybody sayin I dont look after my children (Lee 134). She has always viewed them as her own. She shows them the affectionateness side and her teachings of moral values runs parallel with Atticus. She was also able to teach Scout how to write and because she is a black woman in the 1930s who is literate she never acts better than anyone else. Scout invites Walter Cunningham over for dinner and when she reticules him for the way he is eating Calpurnia scowls Scout to show her the type of chick should want to be.She tells Scout, Hush your mouth Dont matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this houses yo compny, and dont you let me catch you remarkin on their ways like you was so high and justly Yo folks might be bettern the Cunninghams but it dont count for nothin the way youre disgracin em if you cant act fit to eat at the table you can just set here and eat in the kitchen (27). This is where the audience first sees Calpurnia take institutionalize of a situation. She sees something she does not like and steps forward to address it.Calpurnia knows how to set her foot down with her surrogate family. It is her family and she knows how to be a woman about it. She knows she could have it a lot worse and is grateful that she works for person like Atticus Finch. In the 1930s, African-American women workers were not always tempered the same way as Calpurnia was. She is one of the few that is able to read and w rite.Although wages are never discussed in the book, according to Annie Barnes, African-Americans mistresses during the Depression paid as little as $5. 0 weekly for full- time laborers to dampen windows and clothes, iron (as many as twenty-one shirts a shift), and wax floors (30). Lee never shows Calpurnia participating in any of these things. The only thing she does, interior(prenominal) wise, in the book is cook. The reader forgets that she is hired by the Finches and only witnesses her as the female role model in the childrens lives. Her femininity frame during the reading because she maintains the household and instills values in the children which they may not have learned from only their father.There are many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. However, when the reader is thinking along the terms of masculinity, the most masculine character is Atticus Finch. He might not be able to play football like the other fathers in Scouts class, but he represents what a true man sho uld be. His characteristics and the way he handles himself makes him an ideal candidate for what being masculine is about. He might be a strong man, but he could not have done it without Calpurnia. She is the backbone of the family.She allows Atticus to work and keeps the children from running wild. Her femininity shows through from the reservoir to end. She is a strong woman and knows what is right. She will not let things get in her way of life and knows how to be a lady in all situations. Being feminine or masculine is not so much about being a man or a woman, but about how the person handles themselves when faced with certain issues. Calpurnia and Atticus know exactly how to behave in all atmospheres and that is why, in this book, they are the male and female role models.

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