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HelpRe: Thoughts on Scout?
in reply to a message by Scout (She/Her)
I far prefer Jean Louise. Scout has dated connotations of skilled explorers going out ahead of the soldiers and the colonialists who followed them, enabling everyone except the original inhabitants to appoint themselves kings of the wild Frontier... like something out of a 1930s history text book. Which, in today's world, should be an embarrassment, but actually all it says is "My parents went to school! They read a book in class! If I'd been a boy, they'd have named me Atticus!"
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Huh, I don't get that impression at all (at least not so much that it overpowers other impressions). Any group of people travelling for any reason can have scouts.
I guess my main problem with naming a baby Scout after Scout Finch is that she's just the everyman character who observes the book but doesn't really do much. I understand why you'd name a baby Attius after Atticus Finch because he's an impressive character, but Scout is more like a proxy for the reader during most of the book's events. It has been a while since I've read it, but from what I remember, Scout just watched Atticus do the main plot while she basically did random side quests. Perfectly good as a storytelling method, but not very inspirational to tell your child "this is the character you were named after".
I guess my main problem with naming a baby Scout after Scout Finch is that she's just the everyman character who observes the book but doesn't really do much. I understand why you'd name a baby Attius after Atticus Finch because he's an impressive character, but Scout is more like a proxy for the reader during most of the book's events. It has been a while since I've read it, but from what I remember, Scout just watched Atticus do the main plot while she basically did random side quests. Perfectly good as a storytelling method, but not very inspirational to tell your child "this is the character you were named after".
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Yeah, I guess people can scout out restaurants, and there's talent scouts. Apart from boy scouts, though, for some reason I immediately associated danger in a historical context - like Robin Hood era bandits or 18th century army scouts. Maybe it's the connotation of alertness (to danger).
I agree about the everyman thing. It seems generic. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but it's got that vibe, like someone who's just spectating.
I agree about the everyman thing. It seems generic. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but it's got that vibe, like someone who's just spectating.
This message was edited 3/23/2022, 6:52 PM
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Sadly accurate.
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