What objects symbolize Scout Finch in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In To Kill a Mockingbird, one object author Harper Lee uses to symbolize Scout Finch is her overalls.By Chapter 9, we learn that Scout's Aunt Alexandra is very disturbed by the fact that Scout is a tomboy, and Scout's tomboyish behavior is represented in the overalls she always wears. As Aunt Alexandra sees it, Scout should be a lady, and Scout "could not possibly hope to be a lady if [she]...

In To Kill a Mockingbird, one object author Harper Lee uses to symbolize Scout Finch is her overalls.

By Chapter 9, we learn that Scout's Aunt Alexandra is very disturbed by the fact that Scout is a tomboy, and Scout's tomboyish behavior is represented in the overalls she always wears. As Aunt Alexandra sees it, Scout should be a lady, and Scout "could not possibly hope to be a lady if [she] wore breeches" (Ch. 9). But Scout's overalls do more than symbolize her tomboyish behavior; they symbolize her rebelliousness, especially her rebellion against society.

Scout's rebelliousness, as symbolized by her overalls, isn't merely rebellion against society's norm requiring her to act like a lady. As we progress through the novel, Scout begins to rebel against the way the majority of society around her thinks by rejecting prejudices, such as prejudices against Tom Robinson and eventually prejudices against Arthur (Boo) Radley. Since a girl wearing overalls contradicts society's norms, we can easily see how wearing overalls symbolizes Scout's rebellion against social norms, even against prejudices.