Friday, December 5, 2014

What does Scout really mean when she says that Francis had requested a pair of knee pants, a red leather booksack, five shirts, and an untied bowtie?

When Scout is spending time with her cousin Francis, she does not enjoy her time. She relates the story of him discussing his Christmas list and uses it as a means of disparaging him and expressing her distaste for his personality.
Two things are very evident when she goes through this list. First of all, Francis seems spoiled in her eyes—he requests an inordinate number of items compared to the one gift Scout mentions receiving, and he receives all of them. The second point is that every item on the list seems related to clothing—pants, multiple shirts, a nice booksack, and a bowtie—all of which are for the well-dressed, whereas Scout is much more of a tomboy type.
Her attitude suggests that she thinks of Francis as spoiled and thinks that he cares too much about his appearance.


In chapter 9, the Finch family gathers together to celebrate Christmas, and Scout is forced to interact with her cousin, Francis Hancock. When Scout asks her cousin what he received for Christmas, Francis responds by saying, "Just what I asked for" before mentioning that he got a pair of knee-pants, a red leather booksack, five shirts and an untied bow tie (Lee, 83). While Francis does not directly tell Scout that he specifically received the pair of knee pants, red leather booksack, five shirts, and an untied bowtie, one could assume that those were actually the gifts he requested. Scout portrays Francis as an uptight, pretty boy, who has no interest in playing typical childhood games. After listening to Francis describes his gifts, Scout lies to him by saying, "That's nice" (Lee, 83). Scout then tells Francis that she and Jem received air rifles for Christmas. Scout goes on to comment that Francis is the most boring person in the world, and talking to him gives her the sensation of slowly settling at the bottom of the ocean.

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