Atticus Relationships In To Kill A Mockingbird

The Finch family had come to America after leaving England to avoid the religious persecution of Methodists. They ended up at Finch's landing but lost land in the Civil War. The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is centered around Atticus who leaves to study law and his two children, Jem and Scout. When Jem and Scout were young, their mother died of a heart attack. Scout was very young at the time and remembered very little about the incident, but Jem was able to recall a lot about it and is affected by that memory. Since their mother had passed, Atticus was left to raise his children by himself even though he had a busy life outside his family. Atticus was a good father and let his children grow and mature independently, but he also

For example, Atticus’s sister, Aunt Alexandra, is very different from him. She is a good person, but is racist and sexist towards other people. When Aunt Alexandra first arrived to Atticus’s home, she tells Scout to stop scratching her head and for Calpurnia to take her bags in. “Put my bag in the front bedroom, Calpurnia… Jean Louise, stop scratching your head.” (Lee 127) She does not see everyone on the same level in society which is the opposite of Atticus. She believes in social class and how it separates different families and people from each other. Aunt Alexandra wanted to take over teaching Jem and Scout to turn them into a lady and gentleman, but only for the sake of keeping the Finch family name. “Aunty had a way of declaring What Is Best For The Family…” (Lee 129). She wanted them to grow up alongside her because she was confident in her ability to teach the two kids better than their own father. Aunt Alexandra opposes everything Atticus had taught the children like letting them do what they want and not worrying about what will happen if they don’t carry on the family name. She forced the children to do what she wanted and if they did not obey, she scolded them. Since Atticus’ job does not allow him to be home often, he put his trust into Calpurnia to help raise Jem and Scout. Aunt Alexandra ridiculed him for this because she believed Calpurnia, an African American, was unable to teach them properly. Atticus let Scout and Jem do whatever they want and allows them be taught and disciplined by Calpurnia who he thinks is intelligent, but Aunt Alexandra wants him to raise his children to carry on the Finch name by being proper. Another person who questions Atticus’s teaching is Miss Caroline. Miss Caroline is Scout’s teacher in school who has problems against Scout and Atticus. She is a strict, young teacher who had learned her trade out of Maycomb and wanted to follow the way that