Every little girl needs a mother figure in her life to look up to and follow. In Harper Lee's novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, she explores a little girl's need for a mother figure in her life. Unfortunately, the only person that Scout really has to look up to is her father, Atticus. Atticus tries his bets to be the most effective father that he can be; however, Scout needs a female role model in her life. In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee studies how scout is influenced by other strong women such as Aunt Alexandra, Miss Maudie and Calpurnia.
             Aunt Alexandra is a mother figure to Scout who set very high standards for Scout to live up to. One example of a highly set standard is Aunt Alexandra believing that every little girl should be polite and have manners. For instance when Aunt Alexandra tells Scout to stop scratching her head, Aunt Alexandra believes that every girl should have manners and act polite as a lady, which is why she does not like Scout scratching her head; it is not very feminine. Of Course, Scout does not agree with her Auntie, for she believes that she should be able to scratch her head if she feels like it. Besides teaching her manners, Aunt Alexandra makes her aware of the class structure in society. For instance, Scout would love to play with Walter-Cunningham. However, the Cunnighams are dirty, ill-mannered people who are not of the Finch's kind. This is proven when Aunt Alexandra says, "You should be friendly and polite to him, you should be gracious to everybody, dear. But you don't' have to invite him home." (Lee 227) By stating this, Aunt Alexandra is setting a boundary between the two families the Finches and the Cunnighams.
             Aunt Alexandra believes that they are superior to the Cunnighams, and that is reason enough for Scout not to play with him. She realizes that the Finches are of a "gentler-breed" and that in fact, they are better off than other people in Maycomb are. Finally, Aunt Alexandra teaches...