The setting of a novel is important to the overall importance of the piece. A character’s surroundings affect their morals traits. The setting in To Kill a Mockingbird influences how the characters see the world. The geographical area of this novel is in a small town in the Southern United States. Everyone knew each other in Maycomb County. It was a traditional Southern county. Aunt Alexandra was just one character who was impacted by the South.
Aunt Alexandra was the “perfect” Southern lady. Her Southern surroundings influenced her morals and how she saw the world. Reputations were important to uphold in the South. Aunt Alexandra openly showed that her own family reputation was important to her. In Maycomb, everyone knew one another. Family names told others in the county what kind of people they were. For example, everyone knew the Cunninghams were lazy and not hardworking. Anyone who were to hang out with the Cunninghams would ruin their own reputation in the process. Scout once brought up to Aunt Alexandra that she wanted to invite Walter Cunningham over for dinner one night. Aunt Alexandra forbade Scout to ever play with Walter. Aunt Alexandra was so caught up in the family reputation; she would not even allow her niece to have dinner with a friend. The Southern surroundings taught Aunt Alexandra that reputations were everything. They were very
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Segregation, especially in the thirties, was still a large issue. Black people were not even on the same spectrum as the whites. Aunt Alexandra felt the same about blacks. Her good morals were tainted by the South. She was not supportive when Atticus took on Tom Robinson’s case. Ultimately, she was not supportive because she was worried about her family’s reputation. White people were not supposed to defend blacks. Since everyone around Aunt Alexandra was against what her brother was doing, she was also not supportive. The setting of the novel created the overall
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Aunt Alexandra was thinking only about herself and not about what Atticus could do for
This novel is full of interesting and richly painted characters,Aunt Alexandra was one of my favorite throughout the book. Reading To Kill A Mockingbird you can precisely see her transform into someone extremely courageous. When Harper Lee introduces Alexandra it seemed as if she was a very grouchy woman with a lot of dignity, and very prejudice. Scout and Alexandra encounter many struggles.While
Scout must stay respectful to them, but may not bring him over. I found this especially surprising because Atticus had permitted Walter Cunningham to dine with the family. Also, they just learned that one of the Cunningham was on Atticus’ side as he defended Tom's innocence to the other members of the jury even though he's a black. Therefore, I'd expect Aunt Alexandra to accept as they are nice people, but she still thinks
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the characterization of Aunt Alexandra helps to reveal the theme of how reputation contradicts identity the theme is presented throughout the plotline of To Kill a Mockingbird. The way Aunt Alexandra shows this theme vocally is when she expresses her opinion to others of how family reputation should be followed by each family member. An example of this is when Scout is talking to her cousin Francis after they have eaten at the Finch's landing. As they were talking Francis brought up the subject of her dad and his case. After hearing what Francis says she gets mad at him and he replies that was what their Aunt Alexandra had said. Scout's cousin Francis says, "Grandma say it's bad enough he lets you all
First Aunt Alexandra's effects on others helps establish the effect tradition has on some people. Aunt Alexandra is a very traditional southern woman. She is polite, strict, and when something is wrong she would pounce to try to fix it. The reader first sees her good nature when she says, "We decided it would be best for you to have a feminine influence," ( Lee 127). Normally Aunt Alexandra tries to be a positive
Aunt Alexandra had very strong ideas on how the children should behave and dress. She thought that the children should dress like little ladies and gentlemen, and be very proud of their family. She thinks they should “act like Finches” and be proud of being a Finch.
aunt Alexandra believes she is doing scout good when in reality she's attempting murder at Scouts last few years of her childhood. More over the character, Mayella Ewell, another white girl in the midst of becoming a lady, oversteps her boundaries in the laws of society.
She learned to accept people no matter how they looked. Whenever she judged someone, Atticus helped her understand a person by keeping in mind a simple but meaningful phrase, "…if you learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it. " Chapter 3, pg. 30. Aunt Alexandra was always concerned with family background and constantly judged people based on it, "I never understood her preoccupation with heredity.
Scout evaluates people based on their actions; therefore people who did the best they could with the tools they were given Scout considers good, respectable people. Aunt Alexandra, on the other hand, assesses people based on their family history. The longer a family has stuck to their roots and the longer they have held their plot of land the more highly she thinks of that family. This shows a lot about Aunt Alexandra and Scout’s values and
“Atticus said one time the reason Aunty’s so hipped on the family is because we’ve got’s background and not a dime to our names” (Lee 302) Aunt Alexandra compares her family, the Finches, as the best family. The reason why is “because we’ve got’s background and not a dime to our names.” (Lee 302) “Aunty brought me my overalls. “Put these on, darling,” she said, handing me the garments she most despised,” (Lee 354) Once Aunt Alexandra put herself in Scout’s shoes, she knew that giving her her overalls were going to comfort her after Bob Ewell tried to kill her. By doing so, she was able to comfort Scout and make her feel better. Though there is a huge reputation with family, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is true because everyone is
In the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ we have seen only sides of Aunt Alexandra that are cruel and hateful. The first time we went Aunt Alexandra in the book we heard about her scrutiny towards Scout when she left her all alone at the kid table, but let all the other kids sit at the adult table. This was only the beginning of what happened that Thanksgiving Day. Jem, Scout’s older brother was to old to play, so Scout had to amuse Francis. This is when things got messy. When Scout was outside with Francis he started talking trash about Atticus. He told Scout Atticus was ruining the family name, that he was a nigger lover. At the start of
Ever since the case involving Tom Robinson, Alexandra has questioned everything she’s known and felt about the “negroes.” Sure Calpernia is alright and Helen seemed like a nice person, but what about the rest? Alexandra’s mind was a beehive; running with thoughts and questions2. Alexandra had always heard awful things about the “negroes” and how disgusting they were from a great majority of the community, but Atticus didn’t think so and neither did a few others. The trial of Tom Robinson and Atticus have helped her see how wrong they were treating them, but there was absolutely no way she would voice her own opinion out loud in fear. She is a lady, and she had her place in society. A political leader is definitely not what a lady is supposed to be.
Aunt Alexandra is inimical towards people such as Walter Cunningham as well, who are less fortunate and therefore perceived as repugnant and unfit to be her niece’s playmate.
On the other hand, Aunt Alexandra faced a different but common obstacle, prejudice. Since prejudice was ubiquitous, Aunt Alexandra demonstrated maturity when she became more accepting of others especially Calpurnia, Boo and Scout. Aunt Alexandra, Scout and Jem’s caretaker, had some difficulties interacting and talking around people who were a different race or a lower social or economic class. When Aunt Alexandra first met Calpurnia, the African-American maid who worked in the Finch’s house, she despised her and all of her actions. No matter what Calpurnia did or what she said, she could not please Aunt Alexandra. However, later on in the novel, Aunt Alexandra developed a more accepting attitude towards Calpurnia. She allowed Calpurnia to serve the children dinner. This shows how much Aunt Alexandra has grown to be more accepting of other races and not be prejudice. Not only does Aunt Alexandra accept Calpurnia for who she is, but she also learns to accept Scout. “She brought me something to put on, and had I thought about it then, I would have never let her forget it: in her distraction, Aunty brought me my overalls” (Pg.264).
Aside from Jean being the contradictory southern lady, Aunt Alexandra is a picture-perfect Southern lady. She wears dresses, organizes tea parties, and gossips, she is everything a southern women is supposed to be. She believes that old, white families are the only ones of importance, and that every family has a streak, whether it was incestuous behavior or alcoholism. She held grudges against everyone and tried to fool everyone into believing she was perfect, but