This excerpt creates irony on the side of Atticus as he is seen betraying his ideals and tries teaching his children about the social hierarchy in Maycomb. We can also tell that Atticus is not used to having this kind of conversation with his children and feels a bit hesitant and uncomfortable about the subject as he is “fidgeting”.
As Atticus starts to talk about the gentle breeding of the Finches, we also see that the Jem does not like the conversation as he is “disgusted” by it. This sudden change of behaviour is not Atticus’s own choice but we see that Aunt Alexandra is behind as Atticus refers to “she”, when talking about gentle breeding. We as a reader do not find it surprising as we can expect this from her due to her narrow minded thoughts. This is not the first time we see Aunt Alexandra stepping in and trying to change Scout’s and Jem’s ways. We also see her scolding Scout for wearing breeches instead of a dress, when they visit the Finch Landing on Christmas.
In front of his children, Atticus was persevering as he was finding it difficult to talk about social status as he has been teaching them about treating everyone the equally even if it is from the white community of Maycomb or the Black community. It is not easy for him to let go of his ideals.
We can see that Jem and Scout are also “stunned” by this unusual behaviour of Atticus as they have never seen him talking about their social status other than “climbing into other people’s skin.” They become certain that Atticus is serious when Scout is scolded by the noise she was making. We can also tell that the siblings share the same fears. But Scout being a child cannot control it and lets it out crying. With Scout cry, show us that she is scared that Atticus has changed and the old Atticus is lost. The crying might be an attempt to bring back the old Atticus which does work.
Seeing Scout cry Atticus does realise that the idea of social status does not appeal to his children instead asks them to forget about it. This does relieve Scout as the blood in her legs starts to flow again. In the end Scout realizes her father's struggle dealing with carrying on the Finch's name, being a parent that lives to the expectations of his family, and still believing in his own separate views. "I know what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work."However she also knows that teaching manners and acting as the motherly figure was the role of a woman, during that time period.