Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, is a protagonist and narrator in the 1962 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She is an eight-year old girl in Maycomb, Alabama, who has to cope with the town's prejudice when her father Atticus agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who has been falsely accused of rape.
She is played by Mary Badham in the film.
Her Good Ranking[]
What Makes Her Close to Being Pure Good?[]
- She's an optimistic and innocent person who tries to see the best in people.
- While she at first believes the stories about Boo Radley being dangerous, she grows to like him and is one of the few people in town to show any kindness towards him, which motivates him to save her and Jem at the end of the book.
- She defends her poor classmate Walter Cunningham when her aunt makes classist insults about him.
- She's upset when Jem is nearly shot by Nathan Radley, and tries to stop him from going back.
- Despite the town's prejudice, she is friendly and respectful toward black people and supports her father's efforts to help Tom Robinson, and believes he should be acquitted.
- She has a strong sense of honor and is fiercely protective of Atticus, standing up to anyone who insults him even though he tells her not to.
- She manages to control her temper and walk away from a fight in order not to disappoint Atticus.
- While she loses her cool and punches her cousin Francis for trash-talking Atticus, she explains to her uncle (who beat her for this) how she was provoked and that he should have listened to her side, and he apologizes.
- When Jem is forced to do chores for a neighbor whose garden he destroyed, Scout goes with him out of concern for his safety.
- She defends Atticus from a lynch mob despite not fully grasping the situation, addressing the mob calmly and telling Mr. Cunningham how she's friends with his son at school. This shames the men and they agree to disperse.
- She feels sympathy for Mayella Ewell due to her having an abusive and neglectful father, but she believes Tom's story and says that if she were in charge she would acquit him.
- She's too innocent to fully comprehend the racism at Tom's trial, and while she innocently tells Dill that the prosecutor was demeaning toward Tom because he's "just a Negro" this is because she lacks awareness of why this attitude is wrong, and she is very upset when she realizes Tom was wrongly convicted because he was black. Once she realizes what was going on, she comes to see the harm racism causes and tells Jem that all people should be treated the same, so she overcomes this as a corrupting trait.
- She's concerned for Atticus when Bob Ewell threatens to kill him, and tries to warn Atticus that Ewell isn't bluffing.
- She points out the hypocrisy of her teacher condemning the Holocaust despite making racist remarks about the African-American community.
- When she and Jem are attacked by Bob Ewell, she tries to get to Jem and save him when his arm is broken, even though she can hardly see in the dark, and ends up running into Ewell and knocking him away from Jem. She also keeps asking for reassurance afterwards that Jem isn't dead.
- When she realizes it was Boo Radley who saved her, Scout agrees with the sheriff that they should not make this public because it would embarrass him, telling Atticus it would be like killing a mockingbird, and she agrees to walk Boo home.
What Prevents Her From Being Pure Good?[]
- She's too wrathful and quick to start fights when she feels her honor is at stake, at one point beating up Jem for lecturing her about not antagonizing their aunt. Though she tries to restrain herself, it's only out of respect for Atticus and not because she herself sees fighting as wrong.
- She's mischievous as she often gets into trouble and disobeys Atticus even though she respects him a lot.
External Link[]
- Scout on the Heroes Wiki
