To Kill A Mockingbird Qualities

In truth, there are many different ways to be a “lady” by society’s standards. It could entail being born into an old and powerful family, or it could simply require you have dignity and empathy, regardless of social standing. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird features two very different women who have very different ladylike qualities. Throughout the book, those two women help shape Scout’s (the protagonist’s) childhood. Possessing glaringly different personalities, Scout nevertheless finds something to learn from each of them. Even though Scout was initially antagonistic with her aunt, she comes to admire Alexandra and learns from her to do what is needed and rise to the occasion with grace and dignity after Alexandra successfully demonstrates
Through her stellar moral example and unconventional behavior, Miss Maudie is able to impart life lessons including that of empathy and respect to Scout. One of these lessons was when Miss Maudie refutes the rumors around Boo Radley to Scout, telling her that Boo was always nice to her, and that if he was crazy, it was because of his family (Lee 61). By doing this, Miss Maudie introduced a point of view that humanized Boo, and taught Scout to be more tolerant of people she didn’t understand. Another instance was when Miss Maudie’s house burned down. Instead of being devastated, as the children had expected, Miss Maudie seemed to be perfectly alright with having her home destroyed, saying that she had “always wanted a smaller house...Just think, I’ll have more room for my azaleas now!” and that she was just glad that none of her neighbors got hurt (Lee 97). This was a striking lesson to the children about the relative unimportance of material items. Miss Maudie is also an excellent rational thinker, as shown when she tells the children that “things are never as bad as they seem” after Tom Robinson’s trial (Lee 288). By explaining that not all people wanted Tom to be unjustly punished, she teaches Scout and Jem to be less defeated and more optimistic towards the “baby steps” the town has taken towards
Merriweather was talking about the events of the trial and her maid, Sophy, in a racist manner, Miss Maudie says, “Her food doesn’t stick going down, does it?” (Lee 312). Here, Miss Maudie is subtly attacking Mrs. Merriweather and her supposed morality in a way that wasn’t too offensive or obvious. On page 312, “[Aunt Alexandra] gave Miss Maudie a look of pure gratitude, and I wondered at the world of women.” Here, Aunt Alexandra acknowledges Miss Maudie’s justified challenge to Mrs. Merriweather’s hypocrisy and gives only a small nod to not upset the other guests. “...I was more at home in my father’s world. People...did not trap you with innocent questions to make fun of you...there was something about them that I instinctively liked…” (Lee 313). When Scout was reflecting on the world of women versus that of men, she realizes that many of the women are hypocrites. These interactions between Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie and the ladies during the missionary circle show Scout that there are complexities and hypocrisies in the world of women.
Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie were pivotal figures in Scout’s childhood. Without either of them, Scout may not have had such a rounded experience growing up in Maycomb. Through their examples, Miss Maudie and Aunt Alexandra taught Scout about the world of women, true morality,