Compare the childhood of Jane Eyre and Scout Finch

The story of Jane Eyre is set in Victorian England, the 1800’s where a patriarchal society existed, where the society was male dominated and where women had very few rights and at this time, women were inferior to men and had to marry well to secure a good future. The social and historical contexts of this novel are very different from those in To Kill a Mockingbird. This is because the novel is set in a different era of time, where different societies existed and there were different social expectations of women.

To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s America, in the Southern State of Alabama. The town in which the story is set is called Maycomb. Maycomb is a small town, which comprises of a number of small families such as the Finch’s, the Cunningham’s and the Ewells. Within the town, exists a racist and prejudiced society. For example, Mrs Dubose shouts racist comments at Jem and Scout as they walk by and Tom Robinson is sent to jail for a crime he did not commit but because he is black he is sent to jail even though the evidence that he did not commit this crim

Jane learns another valuable lesson from Helen through the conversation on page 68-70. She learns to guide her emotion with reason. For example, when herself and Helen are in Miss Temples room, Jane keeps in mind what Helen has said about not being too dependent on love and people. When Miss Temple gives Jane the chance to plead her case, Jane tells her about her sad childhood. Although she has had a sad childhood, she does not talk about it with as much anger as she feels, but talks about it whilst controlling her emotions and using the advice from Helen. She also talks about her childhood, bearing in mind ‘Helens warning’s against the indulgence of resentment’ (P.71). At this point, Helen is telling Jane not to be resentful towards those who are cruel and unjust.

In Jane Eyre, Miss Temple is like a mother to Jane as she is very kind and loving and in To Kill a Mockingbird, Calpurnia is like a mother to Scout as she teaches Scout about treating people with respect and taking time to understand others. Also, despite being black and the Finch's cook, she becomes a kind of mother to Scout in many ways.

Jane’s childhood experience of Helen’s death is similar to that of Scout’s. This is because they both have an event in their childhood where someone dear to them has died. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout hears of the death of Tom Robinson. He is dear to her because not only was her father defending him, she felt as though she had become close to him whilst he was on trial. For example, she helped him by trying to stop the gang getting to him. It starts when a crowd of men arrive at the Finch’s home to speak to Atticus. They are apprehensive because Tom Robinson is to be held in the Maycomb Jail overnight. Later on, Atticus is outside the jail, protecting Tom. Jem is concerned that a gang is after Atticus and on his way out Scout hears him and tells him she is accompanying him to the jail to protect Atticus. They see a group of men appear and challenge Atticus insisting they have access to Tom. Scout intervenes the conversation and sees Mr Cunningham there. She starts to have a friendly conversation with him, which breaks the tension and results in Mr Cunningham sending his mob home.

Scout matures as she grows up. From Tom Robinson’s case, Scout sees how a white jury goes against an innocent black man. She sees that racism exists and she learns about courage. She also learns that adults are not always right. This experience teaches her that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird.

Scout’s experience in school is very different. She does not really learn much when she is in school. All the experiences she has seem to take place outside school. For example, she fights Walter Cunningham in the playground, but it is when Jem invites him to dinner that she learns that he should be treated as an equal. Whilst at dinner, she discovers that he is equally intelligent as she is but in a different way. For example, he talks intelligently about farming.

Scout also learns and understands institutionalised racism and about racial discrimination.

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