Aunt Alexandra Character Analysis

Aunt Alexandra is so different from her more lighthearted brothers Atticus and Jack that it may be hard to see how she is related to them. When Atticus calls Alexandra to stay with the children for a while during the trial, Scout and Jem discover that she is the kind of woman who wears her corset under her dressing gown. Scout compares her to Mount Everest , “cold and there" (103). However, over the course of the novel, and especially after the trial, Aunt Alexandra starts to reveal her sympathetic side.  

Aunt Alexandra is very particular about how a Finch lady should act, but much to her dismay Scout would rather get dirty, swear, and shoot her air rifle with her older brother Jem. She does not approve of Scout's usual attire, overalls. Alexandra dislikes the way that Atticus has raised Scout. She believes that Scout should dress like a lady and act like a lady. When Aunty comes to stay with the Finches she tells Calpurnia to put away her luggage, and the second comment that she made was a correction for Scout, "Jean Louise stop scratching your head" (169). The fact that Aunty's second comment is a correction depicts that Scout's manners are the first thing that comes to her mind. Aunt Alexandra sets to work trying to crush Scout's tomboyish ways. Aunty joins Atticus, Jem and Scout in Maycomb so that Scout would have a feminine influence, even though Scout has Cal. Alexandra does not want Scout to play in the mud with Jem and Dill, she would rather have her inside learning how to drink tea the correct way. Aunt Alexandra's mission is to make sure that Scout grows up into a Southern belle.

In addition to appearance, family image is also very important to Alexandra. To her, every member of the family will be defined by another's mistake. She wants to keep the squeaky clean Finch reputation the way it is. Maycomb County is very predictable; "the same families married the same families" (175), and the people behaved the same way as their ancestors. The...