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Chapter 12
“‘It’s not necessary to tell all you know. It’s not lady-like—in the second place, folks don’t like to have somebody around knowin’ more than they do. It aggravates ’em.’”
In Chapter 12, after joining Calpurnia at church, Scout and Jem ask her why she speaks in a different dialect around other Black people, illustrating the divide between the white and Black communities in Maycomb. Calpurnia’s response is another lesson about refraining from judging others or believing yourself superior just because they do things differently—she doesn’t talk “white-folks’ talk” at church because she doesn’t want her friends and family to think she’s “puttin’ on airs.”
Chapter 13
“There was a story behind all this, but I had no desire to extract it from her then: today was Sunday, and Aunt Alexandra was positively irritable on the Lord’s Day. I guess it was her Sunday corset.”
These lines from Chapter 13 illustrate Scout’s relationship with her Aunt Alexandra. To Scout, a child, Aunt Alexandra is rigid and unknowable.
“When Aunt Alexandra went to school, self-doubt could not be found in any textbook, so she knew not its meaning.”
This Chapter 13 quote further illustrates Aunt Alexandra’s personality after she moves to Maycomb and becomes a presence in Scout’s life. Aunt Alexandra is a domineering woman, committed to attempting to force Scout to fit into a traditional feminine role. As a result, Scout and her aunt rarely see eye to eye.
