Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Who does Aunt Alexandra remind the reader of in Chapter 13 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Aunt Alexandra can really be seen as a composition of a couple of different characters, and, as such, she reminds us of other characters within the book.

One character she reminds us of is Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose since both women represent and hold on to the old ways of the South. One aspect of the old Southern ways Aunt Alexandra holds on to concerns her views of how ladies should behave. As a result of her old-fashioned views, Aunt Alexandra is very critical of Scout, and her criticisms are reminiscent of Mrs. Dubose's cantankerous criticisms. Aunt Alexandra frequently ridicules Scout for wearing overalls. Specifically in Chapter 13, we learn that Aunt Alexandra thinks Scout is a much poorer conversationalist than she should be as a girl. In fact, Scout announces, "It was plain that Aunty thought me dull in the extreme, because I once heard her tell Atticus that I was sluggish" (Ch. 13). Aunt Alexandra's criticisms of Scout are very reminiscent of Mrs. Dubose's criticisms of Scout, whom Scout once quoted as saying, "Don't you say hey to me, you ugly girl! You say good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose!" (Ch. 11).

In addition, while Aunt Alexandra and Atticus differ significantly in their views, especially concerning racial issues, Aunt Alexandra is actually very much like Atticus; we could even see her as a female version of her brother. One way in which she reflects Atticus's nature concerns the fact that, just like Atticus, she is a leader of society. Her leadership skills are seen in the fact that she joins her own Missionary Society, is seen as a reputable hostess, and even becomes Secretary of the Maycomb Amanuensis Club. Scout further describes that Aunt Alexandra was highly esteemed by Maycomb's society for the following reasons:


To all parties present and participating in the life of the county, Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would uphold it; she was born in the objective case ... . She was never bored, and given the slightest chance she would exercise her royal prerogative: she would arrange, advise, caution, and warn. (Ch. 13)



Similarly, Atticus is a celebrated and trusted lawyer, trusted to the extent that Judge Taylor singled him out to handle a difficult defense case. What's more, Atticus is elected to the state legislature each year without opposition. The only difference between Atticus and his sister Alexandra, aside from racial views, is the fact that his sister believes that, as a woman, her activities should be restricted to "feminine" activities such as hosting.

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