Examples Of Hypocrisy In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a phenomenal book that illustrates the theme of hypocrisy. Aunt Alexandra, Mrs. Merriwether, and Miss Gates are perfect examples of the hypocritical people who live in Maycomb County. Aunt Alexandra came to stay with Scout and Jem so that they could have a woman in their life. When the Meditations of Joshua S. St. Clair book was brought up on page 176, Aunt Alexandra told Jem that “your cousin wrote this... he was a beautiful character.” Jem responded to her by asking her if it “is the Cousin Joshua who was locked up for so long?” (176). He then proceeded to say: “Said he tried to shoot the president. Said Cousin Joshua said he wasn’t anything but a sewer-inspector and tried to shoot him with an old

Even though Jem knew that Cousin Joshua was the complete opposite of a saint, Aunt Alexandra defended him because he was family. However when Scout expressed her idea to invite Walter Cunningham over, Aunt Alexander told her, “We’ll see about that... they’re not our kind of people... you can scrub Walter Cunningham till he shines... he’ll never be like Jem” (299-300). When Scout asks her if she would have a different opinion on the matter if Walter was family, Aunt Alexandra responded to her by saying, “The fact that he is not kin to us, but if he were, my answer would be the same” (300). Aunt Alexandra defended her position when she told Scout that it is “because he is trash, that's why you can’t play with him” (301). Aunt Alexandra’s hypocritical ways showed when she told Scout that she would always see Walter the same, kin or not. She contradicted herself when she said that because the only reason she defended Cousin Joshua was due to the fact that he was indeed related to her. Yet, when it came to her views on Walter, Aunt Alexandra sees him as below her even though he was most likely a better person then Cousin Joshua. Another example of a hypocritical person is Mrs. Merriwether. She was