Restrictions In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about a black man named Tom Robinson who is imprisoned and on trial for raping a white woman. Throughout the novel Harper Lee explores the theme of imprisonment in many forms such as restriction because of age and/or gender, because of one’s past, and because of social circumstances such as racism. The novel’s main character Scout, feels frustrated by the restrictions placed on her because of her age and her gender and finds ways to express herself in spite of these restrictions. In contrast, Arthur Radley (Boo) allows his past to imprison him inside his house both physically and mentally. Finally, Mayella Ewell is restricted by her society’s expectations that white women are not allowed to be attracted to black

Scout is expected to behave like “a lady” but she resists conforming to those roles. For example, Scout faces discrimination because she doesn’t dress how society wants her to dress. More specifically, her aunt Alexandra forces her into a dress that which Scout does not want to wear. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants” (Lee, 108). Aunt Alexandra expects scout to conform to gender roles instead of wearing what she wants. Scout however would rather have fun and go on adventures than be “a lady”. Scout is fortunate because her father supports her. When she tells her father about her aunt he says “to go on about my business, he didn’t mind me much the way I was” (Lee, 108). Scout is one of the few characters to resist other’s

When he was younger, Arthur fell in with the wrong crowd. They were charged with some crimes and were sent to industrial school but Arthur’s dad was ashamed of him for being sent to industrial school so he asked the judge to let Arthur stay at home under his watch. “The other boys attended the industrial school and received the best secondary education to be had in the state… Mr. Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen years” (Lee, 13). Ironically, the prison his father created for him was worse than the judge’s sentence. Later at age 33, Arthur stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, spent some time in jail but then returned home. These experiences changed Arthur from a loud and troubled kid to someone that Atticus describes as “a ghost”. For the most part Arthur allows himself to become a prisoner because of his own father’s shame and anger and his past mistakes. Like Scout however he does fight back and resist but only in little ways, like leaving hidden objects in a tree for the children. In the end it is only because he finds the courage to leave his own house that Jem and Scout are saved from being