Aunt Alexandra is upset with Atticus because he has not informed the children about their ancestry and given them a sense of their family history—a history she believes reflects the "gentle breeding" of the upper class of their society.
It is important to Aunt Alexandra that the children realize that they are from a higher social class than others in Maycomb. For this reason, she believes they must behave in appropriate ways. When Atticus is forced...
Aunt Alexandra is upset with Atticus because he has not informed the children about their ancestry and given them a sense of their family history—a history she believes reflects the "gentle breeding" of the upper class of their society.
It is important to Aunt Alexandra that the children realize that they are from a higher social class than others in Maycomb. For this reason, she believes they must behave in appropriate ways. When Atticus is forced to explain the importance of their heritage to his children, Scout perceives that he has been coerced into doing so. She asks him,
"Atticus is all this behavin' an' stuff gonna make things different? I mean, are you? ... You really want us to do all that? I can't remember everything."
Scout tells her father that she has a hard time recalling everything that Finches can do.
"I don't want you to remember it. Forget it."
It is clear to Scout that Aunt Alexandra has just relayed to her brother that he has not been preserving the reputation of the family name. Now Aunt Alexandra feels it incumbent upon her that she do so because social class is important to her.
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