Skip to main content

"If Aunt Alexandra could be a lady at a time like this, so could I." What do you think Scout meant by this?

This quote comes at the end of chapter 24. In this chapter, Aunt Alexandra is hosting the missionary circle, and many women are at the Finch home for the meeting. Atticus comes home and calls Aunt Alexandra into the kitchen, where he informs Calpurnia and Alexandra of Tom Robinson's death. Scout sees that her aunt is highly distressed by this turn of events. She is upset that the people in the town have left it to Atticus to try to achieve justice for the black residents of the county when all of them should have been advocates for Tom, who was obviously falsely accused. Aunt Alexandra's voice is shaking and she sits down with her head in her hands. Scout thinks she might be crying. She's not, but she is angry and upset. Nevertheless, she composes herself and goes out to serve the ladies, allowing Calpurnia to go with Atticus to comfort Tom's wife. Even though Aunt Alexandra has anger toward some of the women who are her guests, she serves them graciously and doesn't repay their selfishness with unkindness. Scout sees this and follows her aunt's example. The quote shows that Scout understands that a lady treats others graciously, even when they don't deserve it. Scout tends to be hot-headed, wanting to get into fist fights to solve disagreements. Here she sees her aunt's strength and begins to realize that being a lady requires its own kind of strength. She begins to value the skill of being a lady and to call upon something inside herself to be kind to others even when she is upset or angry. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more