Sunday, March 18, 2007
Jem~ Is he being left out?
I was thinking about the relationship between Aunt Alexandria and Scout, and how she is always pushing Scout to be more like a lady. Then, it made me wonder, why isn't Aunt Alexandria pushing and harping on Jem to be more like a man. I know he is a boy, but if you think about it, if Scout is the way she is from being around boys all her life, and she has a bit of a problem, then wouldn't that make Jem a culprit in this matter. No offense to boys or anything, but boys are a lot different than girls, sometimes they can be a little more dirty and sloppy (not all boys, just some). I don't remember reading anything about Aunt Alex correcting Jem all the time and trying to fix him too. I would think if she was so pushy and always tried to fix families by butting in and trying to change their ways, why she wouldn't try to change Jem into more of a man, just like she is trying to change Scout more into a lady. This is just a thought, tell me what you think?
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8 comments:
Technically, I think that it'd be hard for any woman to change a man, or a girl to change a boy because the different sexes live in two opposite worlds. They see things differently. So perhaps, Aunt Alexandria might not know how to correct Jem's mistakes because they walk in different shoes.
I think that Alexandria pushes Scout because she is....old-fashioned and believes that Scout should act like a young lady should. Generally with old-fashioned folk, "boys aer boys". They have always had more leverage when it comes to horsing around. I don't think that Alexandria would even consider telling Jem how to behave for the simple fact that he is a boy. She also has a boy or two ( I don't remember which.) so she knows how they behave. She doesn't know how girls really behave, only how they are supposed too.
I think that Aunt Alexandria is pushing Scout because of the fact that she never ahd a daughter of her own. She is trying to force Scout to become the perfect lady because she never got a chance to "sculpt" a girl into her image of a perfect lady.
Second, I don't think it is Aunt Alexandria's responsibility to mold or teach Jem. I think that is left up to his dad and what he learns on the street. In times like the 1930's the moms never really had any control over their sons except telling them what to eat and maybe to clean their rooms. The father was the authority figure to a son back then.
I have to agree with the previously posted comments. However, perhaps Scout was "learning" from a different role model other than Jem. I mean, Jem is constantly striving to become more of a gentleman. I believe that Dill is quite an influence of her, too.
Scout dresses like a boy. Has Jem wore dresses and skirts? haha. Aunt Alexandria corrects Scout because she is a girl, and Auntie knows a little bit more about girls than she does boys.
Well it doesnt really make sense that she would try to change Jem, that is not really why she is there nor something she would be capable of doing. And how exactly is Jem supposed to change, he acts just like a boy should act especially a southern kid. There is not much more he needs to do but grow up and then he will be a man. She would not try and change Jem into a man because there is not anything to change and she is a girl so would that not be Atticus' job anyways.
I don't really think she has any reason to harp on Jem. He isn't prancing around acting a little girly, but Scout is definitely acting boyish(which I don't really think there is anything too horrible about that, she's young). Why would she want to try and correct something if there is nothing to correct. He doesn't really go a round making a lot of trouble and is usually very respectful, so I just think she is focusing on where she thinks the problem is.
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