Final Answer:
Scout's Halloween costume in "To Kill A Mockingbird" is a ham costume. Its drawbacks include impaired vision, making it challenging for Scout to see and understand her surroundings during the Halloween festivities.
Step-by-step explanation:
In "To Kill A Mockingbird," Scout Finch wears a ham costume during the Halloween pageant. The costume is a representation of the Maycomb County's agricultural theme for the event. However, the drawbacks of the ham costume become evident during the pageant. The costume is oversized and cumbersome, making it difficult for Scout to navigate and maintain her balance. Furthermore, the eyeholes are restrictive, impairing her vision. This limitation becomes a crucial factor later in the story when Scout, along with her brother Jem, encounters trouble on their way home.
The ham costume's drawbacks serve as a metaphor in the narrative, representing the challenges and limitations imposed by societal expectations and prejudices. It becomes a physical hindrance, reflecting the barriers and constraints that the characters, particularly Scout, face in understanding and confronting the deeply rooted issues of racism and injustice prevalent in Maycomb. Harper Lee employs Scout's Halloween costume as a literary device to symbolize the struggles against the constraints of societal norms and discrimination.