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How Did Aunt Alexandra Change The Story Of To Kill A Mockingbird

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Why change the alluring story of To Kill a Mockingbird when it has had so much success and popularity worldwide? This novel is about the problems in the society during the 1930’s, such as racial inequality and rape. It is told in first person point of view of the character, Scout, who is experiencing many events that happened in her childhood in Alabama in the city of Maycomb. Harper Lee, the successful author of To Kill a Mockingbird, was so successful that there were around forty million copies sold. Even with this accomplishment, Robert Mulligan, director of the movie, decided to switch it up a little bit. Even though there are many small details that were adjusted between the novel and movie, there were three that really made a great impact …show more content…

Aunt Alexandra comes in and lives with the Finch’s and tries to take charge of Jem and Scout. She does not like or agree that Calpurnia is acting as a mother figure toward the kids. She feels Atticus is not using the best environment to teach the kids. To take Cal’s role in the family, she must try to convince Atticus to fire Cal because she is a perfectly eligible candidate to be their mother. In the novel, Aunt Alexandra states, “We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence” (Lee 170). Even though Aunt Alexandra plays a major role in this plot, she was actually removed completely from the movie all together. There were conflicts between Atticus and Aunt Alexandra, which provided many examples of themes in the story. She showed more prejudice toward the people, which was not included in the movie. Also, Calpurnia took on a move of a female model toward Jem and Scout in the movie, since Aunt Alexandra was non-existent. Although Aunt Alexandra was vital in the novel, Calpurnia was the prominent one in raising and teaching both Jem and

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474 Words | 2 Pages

Finally, Aunt Alexandra wasn't into the movie. It would have been important for her to be in the movie. This is because she was a women role model for Scout and if she was there it would have shown that Scout still didn't like girly clothes.

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986 Words | 4 Pages

’s mother passed away. Aunt Alexandra tries to convert Scout from acting like a boy and tries to make her act like a girl more. Aunt Alexandra influences both Jem and Scout by teaching them basic manners. Ex. She teaches them how they should act when she first comes over.

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817 Words | 4 Pages

She notices that Scout isn’t acting like a girl so she went to Atticus and Alexandra and Atticus talked about why she is not acting like a girl. Alexandra thinks Calpurnia is a bad example to Scout becoming a lady. Alexandra is saying this because she found out Calpurnia brought Scout to her church and when they were walking home Scout asked Calpurnia what does ‘rape’ mean. Then Calpurnia told Scout to ask Atticus. So she did.

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1128 Words | 5 Pages

Aunt Alexandra on the other hand, is not a good mother figure. First of all she does not get along with Atticus’s side of the Finch’s. This is supported when Aunt Alexandra is very rude and blunt with Scout and Jem, who are still little children. She also likes to tell Atticus that he is parenting wrong, and tries to get Scout to change the way she acts. The second reason I do not think that Aunt Alexandra would be a good mother figure is that she does not let the family be themselves.

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811 Words | 4 Pages

(Lee 134)” Calpurnia is a great mother figure, in my opinion Aunt Alexandra is only a good mother figure. She came to live with the Finch’s to help Atticus for when Scout starts growing into a woman. Aunt Alexandra says, “ We decided that it would be best for you to have some feminine influence. (Lee 170)”

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916 Words | 4 Pages

Aunt Alexandra is a conservative woman who is conscious of propriety and class. So she wanted Jem and Scout to live in a certain way especially Scout, She was worried Scout was too much of a tomboy. Aunt Alexandra was also concerned that Atticus was too careless in his parenting. He allowed his kids to do whatever they wanted. She was also concerned that Calpurnia had too much say and authority over the lives of the children with the absence of their mother.

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1073 Words | 5 Pages

Pearl is an uncontrollable little girl who has behavioral issues and acts similar to a demon child. It seems nearly impossible for her mother to control her. Like the A on Hester’s chest, Hester cannot just pluck Pearl out of her life. After all, it is Hester’s sin that causes her to wear the A, which also stands for adulterer. When Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale meet in the woods, Hester attempts to rid her own life of the A by tearing it off.

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620 Words | 3 Pages

Calpurnia serves as an amazing role model and mother figure to the children, and yet Aunt Alexandra wants to fire her. She had raised Jem and Scout, and plays an indispensable part of their lives, showering them with discipline, structure, and love. Aunt Alexandra, however, barely existed in the children 's lives up until she moved into the Finch’s home, yet she inflicts great injustice on Calpurnia by failing to recognize the necessitous part of the family that Calpurnia fills. Scout even overhears Aunt Alexandra saying, "...you 've got to do something about her. You 've let things go on too long Atticus, too long.

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286 Words | 2 Pages

Parental influence can strongly effect the way a child grows up to be. Aunt Alexandra has grown up in a wealthy area, learning the ways a true southern lady should behave. When she is first introduced in the book, Scout portrays her as “cold and there” (Lee 103) during her childhood. She is self-reliable, and likes being in charge. She may be strict and uptight, but she has a commitment to her family as well.

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589 Words | 3 Pages

Even thought Aunt Alexandra wants to fire Calpurnia, Atticus still wants to keep her until she decides to leave. Atticus trusts Calpurnia to take care of Jem and Scout and he believes that she does a good job of it, and he thinks of her as a mother for

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940 Words | 4 Pages

Unable to satisfy this center in her lower mindset, Aunt Alexandra accepts Scout for who she is and achieves a higher or growth mindset. By giving Scout the same overalls that Aunt Alexandra has once hated, Aunt Alexandra displays that she is satisfied with Scout and is not constantly trying to change her into a person who she is not. After Atticus tells the family about Tom Robinson’s death, “Aunt Alexandra [sits] down in Calpurnia’s chair and [puts] her hands to her face” (ch.24; 236). Instead of creating a separation between

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736 Words | 3 Pages

“‘It encourages them to do so. You know how they talk among themselves’” (Lee 157). Calpurnia is considered part of the Finch family and includes her in every opportunity she can. Aunt Alexandra hates Atticus for this inclusivity because she doesn't believe that Calpurnia should be there or hear their conversations.

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776 Words | 4 Pages

Aunt Alexandra does not believe that Calpurnia is a good enough role model for Scout. She thinks she is best for Scout, which shows that she doesn’t think that Atticus can properly parent and guide Scout to womanhood. “She was an incurable gossip” shows that she thinks a certain way and is outspoken. She doesn’t care enough to hide her feelings and not talk about people. “When Aunt Alexandra went to school, self-doubt could not be found in any textbook, so she knew not its meaning” and Lee was able to show that Aunt Alexandra grew up nothing nothing else but being taught that you must be confident and and have no self

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594 Words | 3 Pages

She didn’t approve of how lenient Atticus was on his children, and as one of the few prim and proper ladies in Maycomb, she tried to “fix” the Finch family into being more proper and fitting into their status quo of being one of the more respected families. Aunt Alexandra was really keen on “family breeding” and how everyone in a certain family followed the footsteps of their predecessor and was a certain way. I think it really changed the story that Aunt Alexandra wasn’t part of the movie because the idea of how people from certain families always acted a certain way was like a status quo that someone just made up, and it reminded me of the racism in Maycomb and how it was a big problem. Even in the book, Atticus says African Americans aren’t all bad and want to do harm; it’s a negative stereotype that was just made up and for some reason people just prosecute others because of their differences or because they don’t live as much of an extravagant life as others. By taking this away from the movie, it took a bit away from the unexplained reason for prosecuting African Americans in Maycomb because the ideas were related.

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871 Words | 4 Pages

Scout said herself the only time she sees Aunt Alexandra is at mealtimes or before bedtime. When the children do converse with Alexandra, the conversations are often kept short, awkward, and rude. “When I appeared in the doorway, Aunty would look as if she regretted her request” (Lee 176). Scout was constantly reminded of how she feels pleasant with Calpurnia. Calpurnia is a better mother figure than Aunt Alexandra.

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