The Hypocrisy Of Aunt Alexandra In The Novel To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Aunt Alexandra is Atticus’s sister. Throughout three years she influences Scout by teaching her what's the right thing to do. Aunt Alexandra lives at the finch's landing. In the months before Tom Robinson's trial, she moves in with Atticus to give Scout a feminine role model. To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in Alabama in the 1930s which was not only during the Great Depression but also a time when Jim Crow Laws were in practice. Aunt Alexandra's actions at the Christmas dinner, the Missionary Circle, and at the Finches home define her as a hypocrite and her behavior teaches Scout that if she wants to be considered a “lady” in the south, then she has to step up and do the right thing--even if that contradicts Aunt Alexandra’s expectations.

Aunt Alexandra first shows hypocrisy in the story when Atticus, Jem, and Scout go to spend Christmas at Finch's Landing. Aunt Alexandra didn't like Atticus and told Scout that Atticus was ruining the family's reputation, later she supported Atticus and was worried for her brother but told Scout she should be grateful for her father. “Grandma says, it is bad enough he lets you all run wild, but now he's turned out a ****** - lover we'll never be able to walk the streets and Maycomb again. He's ruining the family, that's what are you doing”(Lee 94). The importance of what Aunt Alexandra is telling Scout is that Atticus is ruining the family's reputation and people aren't going to allow them to walk in the city or make a home without being judged. Aunt Alexandra scolded Scout for fighting her cousin but then later in the novel Scout had to defend herself from Bob Ewell when he attacked Jem and Scout from the Halloween party. “This thing probably saved her life" (Lee 165). Said Sheriff Heck Tate This shows hypocrisy between Aunt Alexandra and Scout because Aunt Alexandra never wanted to see how to defend herself because that's not what ladies do but when she got attacked by Bob Ewell she was fine with that. 

Aunt Alexandra shows hypocrisy again in the missionary tea circle which teaches the scout a lesson. One of the most prominent examples of hypocrisy is shown by Aunt Alexandra at the Missionary Circle. Women in the Missionary Circle demonstrate hypocrisy by showing off their racial prejudice and criticizing Atticus for defending Tom Robinson’s trial. “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn't supposed to be doing things that required pants.” (Lee 146). This quote further shows the conflict between Scout and Aunt Alexandra. Aunt Alexandra is desperately trying to make Scout into a Southern lady, just like herself.  Scout has no interest in being a lady at all.  It also shows the role of a woman during that period a woman was supposed to do nothing but look pretty. While Scout was at the circle she was being judged heavenly by what she was wearing by Aunt Alexandra because she wanted to wear a girly outfit. “Act like a lady and wear a dress so she can “be a ray of sunshine in [her] father's lonely life.” Scout does not respond positively: she retorts that she can “be a ray of sunshine in pants just as well” (Lee 89). This is really reflecting on how hard she is on Scout and how she's trying to change her to be feminine. Throughout this time in the missionary circle, Aunt Alexandra is being a hypocrite. After all, when she moves in with Atticus she lays off Scout because she's setting a good example for her. 

Lastly, Aunt Alexandra shows hypocrisy in the novel when before the Halloween pageant Aunt Alexandra stays home. It's hypothetical because she's always telling scouts if you wanna be a lady you need to be seen throughout the Maycomb community and needs to be very social by her not going to the Halloween gathering she is not following her own set rule. Atticus said as tactfully as he could that he just didn’t think he could stand a pageant tonight, he was all in. He had been in Montgomery for a week and had come home late that afternoon. “Aunt Alexandra said she just had to get to bed early, she’d been decorating the stage all afternoon and was worn out—she stopped short in the middle of her sentence” (Lee, 257). Scout plays the role of a ham costume and is required to wear a cumbersome costume made out of chicken wire when she walks onto the stage. Scout mentions that she was upset to learn that her family members could not attend the pageant to see her perform. Scout explains why Atticus and Aunt Alexandra would not be attending the pageant by saying what she said in the quote. Aunt Alexandra explains to Scout that she is feeling too tired to attend because "she'd been decorating the stage all afternoon and was worn out". (Lee 285). This shows hypocrisy again for Aunt Alexandra because she stayed home and left scout to go on her own. But she always told her if she wanna be a lady then she should attend big gatherings in Maycomb county. 

In conclusion, Aunt Alexandra and Scout developed a relationship throughout all of the events they both went through if it was the Christmas dinner, Missionary Tea Circle, and their lifestyle at the Finches landing Aunt Alexandra was always trying to change scouts. Although aunt Alexandra changed her stories and did what she said not to do. I think that she was teaching scout information she needed to know. Do you think Aunt Alexandra did a good job trying to change scouts?  Do you think Aunt Alexandra showed hypocrisy in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?