Free response post - Why do Atticus and Aunt Alexandra really feel that it is necessary for her to stay with them?




Atticus and Aunt Alexandra feel that Aunt Alexandra must stay with Scout, Jem, and Atticus so that she can attempt to help Jem and Scout carry on the Finch family reputation. The Finch family has been in Maycomb for a very long time and they are a respected family with a high reputation. When Scout and Jem were younger it was socially acceptable for them to run wild and just be kids. However, now they are getting older and although they are still children Scout and Jem are reaching a point where they need to begin abiding by the laws of society and start becoming the "little lady and gentleman [they] are,"  (151) according to Aunt Alexandra. Although Atticus can handle Scout and Jem just fine and Calpurnia is somewhat of a mother figure to them, Aunt Alexandra is the next step up. She is what is thought of as the ideal woman during the time the book takes place and is the only one who truly has the power to carve her words into Scout and Jem's heads. With the trial about to happen and Scout and Jem growing into more mature ages now is the right time for Aunt Alexandra to stay with them. Scout and Jem not only need to understand the Finch Family reputation, but they also need to carry it on. Right now, due to the trial, the town's respect for Atticus has lessened severely. Atticus does not want this to carry over to Jem and Scout and he also wants them to be able to withhold the Finch name when he might not be capable.

How do you think Atticus really feels about aunt Alexandra?
What do you think will happen with Aunt Alexandra and the trial?

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2019 at 5:09 PM

    I think that Harper Lee is using Aunt Alexandra’s arrival as a signal of change. With the coming trial, Atticus will be more preoccupied and the pressure on the Finch Family will be extreme. They will be judged and considered in ways that they have not before, and ridiculed for their differences. I think that Aunt Alexandra’s coming is mostly to aid the family in being less of a target. She is making them seem more perfect, so it harder for people to find things to make fun of. She is also worried for the family reputation, and by inserting herself in the middle of the dynamic, she will strive to protect the family name in by any means possible. I think that Atticus is not letting on how he really feels about Aunt Alexandra’s arrival, as seen in the scene when he visits Jem’s room.

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  2. leilabpSeptember 22, 2019 at 6:16 PM

    I think Atticus is as glad about Aunt Alexandra's arrival as Scout is, but I believe that she was his last option. He knows that this trial is going to take up a lot of his time, and he needs some family around his kids. At the end of the chapter, we learn that Aunt Alexandra is not only controlling Calpurnia, Jem, and Scout's lives but Atticus' too. She guilt-tripped Atticus by saying that he is growing more like Cousin Joshua each day so he would talk to Jem about his priorities. I think that Aunt Alexandra will end up having a strong opinion on Tom Robinson's case, which will have a substantial impact on the whole family. I believe that Harper Lee put Aunt Alexandra in the book to signal that trouble is coming and that the family sticking together is going to be difficult, but will make a big difference.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2019 at 8:13 AM

    What do you think will happen with Aunt Alexandra and the trial?

    Aunt Alexandra doesn't want Atticus to ruin the family name. Defending a black man in the 1930's in Alabama would not be favored upon by many people. With her brother defending Tom Robinson, I think Aunt Alexandra will step in and try to make her brother back out of it. In my opinion, one of the two things will happen: Jem and Scout will stick up for Atticus or Aunt Alexandra threatens to take the kids back with her if the trial persists. In the first scenario, Jem and Scout will stick up with their father rather than their aunt and not allow her to become involved in the trial. Also, they were just invited to First Purchase, an all-black church, by Calpurnia. I think Jem and Scout see a new light of the black community, and will try to support it even further than before these chapters. In the second scenario, Aunt Alexandria will either have Atticus back out of the trial or take the kids with her to Finch's Landing. This scenario seems less likely, but definitely reasonable. Aunt Alexandra has shown that she is very demanding, and I could see her going to this extent to get what she wants. I believe Harper Lee included these scenes in the novel to show how Scout and Jem have grown to respect the black community.

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