1.) What affect does Aunt Alexandra have on the routines of Atticus, Jem, and Scout? Why?
Aunt Alexandra is a dominant and stuck up creation of Harper Lee. Wherever she goes she tends to harass and boss around people who don’t see the world in the exact same light as she does. From the moment she enters the Finch household her orders are “put my bag in the front bedroom, Calpurnia...Jean Louise, stop scratching your head.” (p.169) Aunt Alexandra’s attitude is that of a possessive control freak, and her real conflicts occur in Scout’s presence. From the first few pages that we met Aunt Alexandra, Harper Lee made her out to be a very feminine and conformal to the “Maycomb ways”. When she sees that Scout is really a tomboy who likes to wear overalls and shoot tin cans with air rifles, she is furious. She then makes it a personal mission of to change Scout from head to toe.
In contrast, to her controlling tendencies, in the beginning of chapter 13 she fits in with the family pretty well. She becomes closely intertwined with the ways of the community and becomes a leading member in neighborhood coffee and gossip circles. Mr. Radley even came out as far as his front porch to say his greetings. But through all the cakes, conversations, and guests over, Aunt Alexandra was there for one reason, to make Jem and Scout into more gentlemen and lady like people. She brought up the Finch heritage as a sign that they were in a higher place in society the the Cunninghams or the Ewells. She wanted them to grow out of the there childish and adventurous tendencies and become more civil and matured children. At the end of the Chapter we can see that even though she tries to make Atticus talk to the children about this, the kids and Atticus know that they are who they are, and they do not want Aunt Alexandra to change that.
Do you think that Scout and Aunt Alexandra will run into further conflict as the book progresses? Why did harper Lee put Alexandra in here as the Trial begins to move forward? What role might she play?
Scout and Alexandria will run into further conflict as the book progresses if Scout does not act lady like. Scout's attitude and personality make it almost impossible for this not to happen. Scouts personality is as you said tomboyish, shooting tin cans with air guns, and she does not want to become a lady. Aunt Alexandria will keep pushing her to be a lady. Scout doesn't like being told what to do. Scout is completely against becoming a lady. This is a recipe for disaster. At some point in the book one of them will snap and conflict will be made. Weather Alexandria doesn't let scout play outside, or Scout does something unladylike that annoys aunt Alexandria, there could definitely be a large scene of conflict. Scout and Alexandria have such different views that it just makes sense for there to be conflict.
ReplyDeleteThere is no way that they cannot run into conflict. They have very different personalities. Scout is very open minded, and can act like a tomboy. Her clothing is very masculine, as she wears overalls and pants, while Aunt A. wears dresses. This behavior drives Alexandria crazy, and makes them fight a lot. They are just completly different, so they will have no way of making peace. Now that Alexandria has moved in, she will probably fight with Scout on a daily basis. Scout and Aunt Alexandria are going to keep fighting for the rest of the book, and my guess is that it will end badly for both of them.
ReplyDeleteAs it was mentioned above, Scout and Aunt Alexandra contrast each other completely. While Scout prefers to run around in overalls, Aunt Alexandra firmly believes that Scout needs to behave more "lady-like." Harper Lee added Aunt Alexandra back into the plot just as things are slowly starting to get more hectic. Aunt Alexandra is supposed to help out with the children as Atticus will be more busy with the trial, and sort of take over the motherly role. However, with the situation already as tense as it is, Aunt Alexandra might make things more difficult in the family. She already fits into the "proper" standards of Maycomb, and has proven her dislike for Atticus's choice, and might try to change the minds of Scout and Jem in the future.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Zetty, I believe that Aunt Alexandra with run into a further conflict with Scout because of their disagreements about how, "lady-like," Scout is. It's almost fitting that this will happen because at the end of the chapter Atticus is telling Jem and Scout about how Aunt Alexandra wants them to be more like, "ladies and gentlemen." It's obvious that Scout doesn't like how her father is acting, and feels that Aunt Alexandra is changing her father, which makes her even more upset. I think Harper Lee will definitely make further conflict with Aunt Alexandra to show part of Scout's coming of age. Not because she's becoming a 'lady,' but because she is learning to respect Aunt Alexandra and other people's ways. Aunt Alexandra and Scout will definitely have further conflict. Is it possible that Aunt Alexandra will be a part of Scout's coming of age, and maybe part of Jem's?
ReplyDeleteScout and Aunt Alexandra will definitely run into further conflict. Aunt Alexandra is controlling and she always wants her way. If people don't do exactly what she wants, then they are wrong. Scout is the exact opposite of Aunt Alexandra. Scout is a tomboy, and she likes to be active and shoot things and hangout with the boys. Aunt Alexandra is more of an elegant lady. She likes to dress nicely and in girly clothes, where Scout likes to wear shorts and a T-shirt. They are so different, that they are bound to have further conflict, especially because they are family and are forced to interact with each other.
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