To Kill A Mockingbird: Section One

To my surprise, I found To Kill a Mockingbird one of the most amazing reads I have had in a long time. It wasn’t the Southern setting and character’s speech and comprehension of their situation surrounding the Radley House, the Finch Household,  as well as their friend Dill, but rather viewing the story through a child’s point of view. I was more surprised when I realized Scout was actually a boy in the fourth chapter despite reading the book through the eyes of a female character. I often question why Scout keeps bringing up his apparent femininity as opposed to brushing it off as one of many insults that his brother and his friend keep teasing him with. I believe deep down this might signify some type of questioning of scout’s gender orientation where in the later parts of the section he debates of accepting himself being an actual girl as he opposes “masculine” dares and activities and has not stopped being called one. His non-chivalrous attitudes towards other female characters in the section such as the teacher (despite the disdain between the two) and his neighbors also may signify that Scout may not view himself separate from these people by gender but rather see them as one like himself, unlike the separateness he shares towards the male characters of his family and peers.