Aunt Alexandra comes to live with her brother's family in chapter 13. Almost immediately, Aunt Alexandra starts teaching the children about their heritage and gentle breeding because she believes that the children have been allowed to run wild since her brother became a widower. Aunt Alexandra believes that landowners are more respected than non-landowners, and that landowners were taught to be polite, high-class people who are more respected, educated, and given leadership positions. As a result, she wants the children to look and act accordingly. She becomes so overbearing that Scout says the following:
"I never understood her preoccupation with heredity. Somewhere, I had reviewed the impression that Fine Folks were people who did the best they could with the sense they had, but Aunt Alexandra was of the opinion, obliquely expressed, that the longer a family had been squatting on one patch of land the finer it was" (130).
Scout is of the belief that "Fine Folks" are good-hearted, salt-of-the-earth people who are kind to others. She believes this because of how she was brought up before Aunt Alexandra came to live with them. For example, Atticus teaches her to try to understand people from their perspectives before jumping to conclusions. Also, Calpurnia teaches Scout to respect company no matter who they are. And finally, Miss Maudie teaches Scout to respect others by her example, and by talking respectfully about neighbors like the Radleys. Little does Aunt Alexandra know that the quality upbringing that Scout already has behind her is far better than what she has to offer from her old-school ways.
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