How Is Scout Finch Rebel Against Society

Albert Camus once said, “Rebellion cannot exist without the feeling that somewhere, in some way, you are justified.” This genius makes it clear that one does not rebel against society unless one feels that it is for the better. This accurately sums up the mindset of both young Scout Finch, the main character of To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic American novel, and Harper Lee, the author, when they made their decisions to go against “the flow” and follow their hearts. Scout Finch goes against the flow by being one of the only people in Maycomb who discounts racism enough to voluntarily associate with black people, and Harper Lee goes against the flow by publishing a controversial novel that does not agree with everyone in America. The author

suggests that both Scout Finch and Harper Lee stand up to society’s unspoken laws by following their hearts no matter how other people see their decisions.
Scout Finch stands up to society’s unspoken laws when she follows her heart to make her decisions to associate with black people, despite what the rest of Maycomb thinks.

The first example of Scout Finch associating with black people by choice, despite what the rest of Maycomb thought was when Scout introduces the idea of going to her black nanny, Calpurnia’s house in front of her extremely racist Aunt Alexandria. Aunt Alexandria rejects the idea immediately, much to Scout’s dismay. The text says, “‘You may not. Aunt Alexandria said it. [...] I said, ‘I didn’t ask you!’” [...] ‘You’ve got to do something about her’” (Lee 154-155). By rejecting Scout’s request without any room for compromise, Aunt Alexandria shows that she does not want to have Scout associate with blacks unless it is absolutely necessary because she believes that Scout has too much black influence on her life. This shows Aunt Alexandria is one of the racist citizens of Maycomb. Yet Scout makes it clear that she rejects Aunt Alexandria’s racism when she talks back to her rudely. Scout does not understand or care about the unspoken racial law that her aunt is enforcing: that whites should stay away from blacks if at all possible. However, Scout is racist at one point because of her ignorance. For example, Scout called the black snowman the n-word without knowing what it actually meant. She mostly grew out of her racism. However, her little bit of racist attitude did not impact her decisions to go against the unspoken racial laws to associate with blacks by choice because of the influence of her racially accepting father, Atticus. Another example of Scout making a decision to disregard the unspoken racial laws is when she decides to go to Calpurnia’s church. This was not acceptable by most Maycomb standards, and certainly not acceptable by Aunt Alexandria’s standards. However, Scout made the decision based on what she thought was right. “I told him in detail about our trip to

church with Calpurnia. Atticus seemed to enjoy it, but Aunt Alexandria, who was sitting in a corner quietly sewing, put down her embroidery and stared at us. ‘You all were coming back from Calpurnia’s church that Sunday?’” (Lee 154). Although Aunt Alexandria reacted negatively due to her racism, Scout could have cared less; she was not phased by what her aunt thought. Scout thought that it was okay for her to go to the church, and she followed her heart by doing so. Although Aunt Alexandria was angry because Scout broke the unspoken law preventing black and white association by choice, Scout had still gone to the church, not caring what others thought. Therefore, Scout makes her own decisions to associate with black people based on what what her heart thinks is right, regardless of society’s laws that work to prevent what actions she takes.
Like Scout, Harper Lee also stood up to society’s unspoken laws by following her own heart when she wrote the novel To Kill A Mockingbird and showed the American public what they did not want to see. According to a book review by Angela Shaw-Thornburg, a black English professor, the book was an absolute insult to African Americans. She was one of the many people who expressed strong dissent about the book. She wrote that To Kill a Mockingbird is a “Work that represents African Americans as peripheral, incapable of self-representation, monumentally passive, and positively grateful for the small compensation of white guilt over injustices done to African Americans” (Book review). According to her, it also gave blacks “A strong sense of alienation” (Book review). Based on Professor Shaw-Thornburg’s negative language and tone towards the book, anyone can infer that she thought that Harper Lee went too far in writing the novel when she portrayed blacks in not always the best light and that she broke a rule: the belief that all races must be portrayed equally. However, Harper Lee, who was “not much of a conformist” (Shields 2), did not bother trying to conform to the unspoken laws, and followed her heart, which told her to write the book. In addition to Professor Shaw-Thornburg, there was more dissent over Lee’s book. An anonymous squib was published soon after the news that To Kill a Mockingbird was becoming a movie came out. It claimed that Harper Lee, a woman from a deep South family, depicting Alabama in a derogatory way was wrong because it went against the unspoken rule that prevented a Southerner denouncing the South, no matter what. It said, “That book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ is to be filmed. Thus another cruel, untrue libel upon the South is to be spread all over the nation. Another Alabama writer joins the ranks of traducers [traitors] of their homeland for pelf [ill-gotten money] and infamous fame” (Shields 138). The author of this felt anger and resentment towards Harper Lee and her decision to write the novel because she broke that unspoken social rule. Harper Lee, however, thought that it was only right and just to show America how racist the South was, despite how other people reacted to her depiction. She followed her heart, and although it was not exactly what the American public all wanted to see, she did it because she thought it was right. Therefore, Harper Lee also stood up to society’s unspoken racial laws by following her heart, even when it showed the American public what they did not want to see.
Both Harper Lee and Scout Finch are similar because they both follow their hearts to make decisions to stand up to society’s unspoken racial laws, no matter what anyone else thinks. These decisions are frowned upon by other people. In Maycomb, Scout’s decision to associate with black people made her Aunt Alexandria mad because she approached the issue of racism and racial inequality without care, while Harper Lee’s book made other people frown because she approached the same concept in a way that, similar to Scout’s case, was not accepted by other people. Both, in a way, were radicals because they made choices based on their own beliefs that were not always accepted in society. For example, when Scout talks about her decisions to visit the black church and to go to Calpurnia’s house, Aunt Alexandria always responded negatively. She says, “‘You may not’” (Lee 154) angrily, which shows that she does not approve of Scout’s upstanding choices. However, Scout continues to make these decisions because she thinks it is right. Harper Lee, like Scout, had people who did not always agree with her choices to talk about racism in a controversial voice. Her decision to write the novel To Kill a Mockingbird was not completely accepted by the American public. For example, Lee received a lot of oppressive responses, such as the book review written by Professor Shaw-Thornburg. Thornburg said that the story gave blacks “A strong sense of alienation” (Book Review). Although other people do not always agree, both Scout and Harper Lee make decisions that result in unspoken laws being broken. However, both keep their heads up high and take the criticism societal criticism.