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In what ways does Aunt Alexandra present her ideas about family and the importance of femininity to the children in Chapter 13?

In Chapter 13, Aunt Alexandra moves into the Finch's household because it is decided that Scout needs a "feminine influence." Aunt Alexandra is the quintessential Southern belle who believes that females should wear dresses and participate in social affairs with other ladies. She views Scout with contempt because Scout wears overalls and enjoys playing outside with the boys. Scout has little in common with her aunt and prefers to behave like a "tomboy" rather than a proper Southern belle. Aunt Alexandra tries to get Scout to talk with her cousin Lily Brooke, but Scout has no idea who she is. 


Scout also mentions that Alexandra is preoccupied with heredity and has her own theory on family history which is, "the longer a family had been squatting on one patch of land the finer it was" (Lee 173). Scout comments that there is something to Alexandra's theory and says that her aunt is more than familiar with Maycomb's caste system. Alexandra believes that every family has a "streak" of either positive or negative attributes that are consistently passed down from generation to generation. She takes pride in the Finch family history and even petitions Atticus to teach his children about their proud family background. However, Atticus does not share his sister's enthusiasm about their family history and cannot bring himself to lecture Jem and Scout.

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