A/N: This is some of my earlier work, done for school. It's a one shot from the POV of Aunt Alexandra in which she tries to explain to herself why she's so hard on Scout. Enjoy! Please read and review!
This may seem silly, but I want everyone to fit neatly in society. Society's expectations are like a box; you strive to fit in the box, and make those around you fit into their boxes too. That's all I'm doing to Scout… right? Scout is a young lady and should act as such: one of my worries for her is that if she does not act as such, people will not treat her well. Dressing the way she does and acting the way she does makes her spill out of that box that society made for her, and I don't want her to be treated like a ruffian. Scout is too different, quite frankly, I detest change, and Scout has become the embodiment of it. Atticus may let her run wild, but that doesn't mean that's what's right for her. But then, Atticus doesn't really fit in his box either.
For instance, the case that he's taking on—the one about that Tom Robinson fellow—he plans to defend that man like he was one of us—white, I mean. In some ways, it seems fine and heroic, but when you look at it from the vantage point of what it does to the family's name, it's hard to think of it that way. That court case has drawn some mighty negative attention to all of the Finches, whether or not we were involved in his decision. Atticus, I can't control, but Scout is another matter entirely. I'm hoping that I can step in where she's been neglected. The child doesn't have a mother after all, and though I know I can be harsh sometimes, she needs to have a woman to keep her in line. Scout has been raised as a boy, and a bit of a ragamuffin at that. I can clearly see what my job is in this branch of our family, and I'm not going to let anyone—not even Atticus—get in my way. I just don't want her to stick out—is that wrong?