Aunt Justine in The Chosen and the Beautiful: Character Analysis

Overview of Aunt Justine in The Chosen and the Beautiful

Aunt Justine—formally Mrs. Sigourney Howard—is the judge’s aunt who becomes Jordan Baker’s guardian after the judge’s death. She is a wealthy, independent older woman who brings Jordan from Louisville to New York, gives her a home, and introduces her to the magical substance demoniac. Though she appears in only a handful of scenes, she functions as a pivotal figure in Jordan’s life: she provides the social and financial stability that allows Jordan to move through the novel’s glittering, dangerous world, and her later plan to send Jordan to Shanghai becomes one of the catalysts for Jordan’s final departure. Aunt Justine embodies both the protective power of old-money privilege and the quiet contradictions of a woman who defends Jordan against overt racism while remaining comfortably embedded in a circle that holds prejudiced views. Her presence is felt most strongly in the spaces between Jordan’s adventures—at dinners, in quiet moments of care, and in the echo of her voice that Jordan carries into the novel’s closing pages.

Plot Role: The Door to New York

Aunt Justine enters the narrative in Chapter Seven, after Jordan discovers Judge Baker’s body and makes the necessary calls. Jordan phones the judge’s aunt, listed only as Mrs. Sigourney Howard, and breaks down when the woman says, “My dear, you needn’t be so strong. We’re family. Tell me how you are.” Aunt Justine’s immediate response—“Why, then you must come stay with me”—sets the plot in motion. She arranges for Jordan to travel to New York after the funeral, and on the train she gives Jordan her first real drop of demoniac, a substance that will recur throughout the novel as a marker of altered perception and magical possibility.

In New York, Aunt Justine provides Jordan with a base—an apartment, a social standing, and access to the city’s elite circles. She is present at dinners with her older friends, where Jordan observes the casual prejudices of the wealthy, and she offers practical support, such as sending dresses and shoes to East Egg when Jordan asks. Her illness, which begins in Chapter Fifteen and requires a live-in nurse, introduces a note of mortality and dependence that complicates Jordan’s otherwise freewheeling life. By the end of the novel, Aunt Justine’s plan to send Jordan to Shanghai—mentioned in Chapter Twenty-Two—becomes one of the reasons Jordan considers leaving New York, and ultimately chooses to go.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Aunt Justine’s motivations are rooted in a blend of familial duty, pragmatism, and a genuine, if understated, affection for Jordan. She acts decisively when Jordan calls, treating the invitation as “the most natural thing in the world.” Her sternness appears in her instruction that Jordan not stay in mourning too long—“Six months at the outside. It isn’t appropriate for a young thing like you to be stuck in mourning too long”—revealing a practical concern for social propriety and for Jordan’s future.

Her actions also show a protective streak. When one of her friends makes a dismissive comment about the Chinese, Aunt Justine pushes back: “Really, Beulah. I don’t see the Chinese or the demons making as much trouble as your average young hawk on the hill.” She later reassures Jordan directly, saying, “You’re safe, you know. You’re a Baker. No one would question that.” This line underscores her belief that social identity—specifically the Baker name—can shield Jordan from harm, a conviction that aligns with the novel’s exploration of identity as a constructed performance.

Aunt Justine is also shown to be engaged with the world beyond her immediate circle. She directs Jordan in filling out paperwork for the Aid Society for Hunger Relief, and she comments on the riots and the suffrage march, even if her views are filtered through a lens of privilege. Her illness does not diminish her engagement; she props herself up on pillows and glares at the newspaper, insisting that “if this many people will not stand for it, they must yield.”

Chronological Arc: From Guardian to Catalyst

Aunt Justine’s arc is relatively short but significant. In 1919, she rescues Jordan from Louisville, bringing her to New York and introducing her to demoniac. Over the summer of 1922, she appears in scenes that establish her as a fixture in Jordan’s life: dinners at Christine’s, quiet moments at home, and the practical arrangements of Jordan’s social calendar. Her illness in Chapter Fifteen marks a turning point, as Jordan must navigate her aunt’s frailty while also dealing with the riots and her own romantic entanglements.

In Chapter Sixteen, Aunt Justine is still present but visibly weakened, yet she maintains her sharpness and her protective instinct. By Chapter Twenty-Two, she has suffered “another setback” and begins discussing sending Jordan to Shanghai—a plan that, while never executed on-page, pushes Jordan toward her final decision to leave. In the final chapter, Jordan echoes Aunt Justine’s tone when she speaks firmly to Myrtle’s ghost, saying, “I sounded like Aunt Justine,” and then resolves to go to Shanghai first, then Vietnam. This echo suggests that Aunt Justine’s influence persists even after Jordan leaves.

Relationships: Guardian, Protector, and Mirror

Aunt Justine’s relationship with Jordan is the novel’s most sustained connection outside of Jordan’s romantic and platonic entanglements. Jordan lists her aunt among the things she cares about, and she often seeks her approval or uses her resources—such as borrowing her diamond earrings to enter the Cendrillon. Aunt Justine, in turn, offers a kind of unconditional safety, even if that safety is predicated on the privileges of wealth and name.

With Daisy, Aunt Justine is more distant. She asks Jordan about Tom’s behavior and remarks, “Well, that’s a shame for Daisy, then. She ought to keep him in better line,” but she does not intervene. This detachment reflects her broader worldview: she is willing to comment on the failings of others but not to disrupt the social order that benefits her.

Aunt Justine’s circle of older women friends serves as a mirror for the novel’s themes of class and prejudice. These women voice racist and xenophobic opinions, and Aunt Justine occasionally corrects them, but she remains part of that circle, enjoying their independence and wealth. This duality—defending Jordan while remaining complicit in a system that marginalizes others—makes her a complex figure rather than a simple benevolent guardian.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The most consequential decision Aunt Justine makes is to invite Jordan to New York. This act removes Jordan from a haunted Louisville and places her in a city where she can explore her identity, her sexuality, and her magical abilities. It also gives her access to demoniac, which becomes a recurring tool for altered perception and connection to the supernatural.

Her decision to give Jordan demoniac on the train is a smaller but symbolically rich act. It introduces Jordan to a substance that will later allow her to see ghosts, cut into the Eckleburg billboard, and ultimately shape her understanding of the world.

Her later plan to send Jordan to Shanghai, though mentioned only briefly, has a direct consequence: it aligns with Jordan’s own growing desire to leave New York. When Jordan declines Daisy’s invitation to Barcelona and instead chooses Shanghai, she is partly responding to the future her aunt envisioned for her.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Aunt Justine is deeply tied to the novel’s exploration of identity as a constructed and fragile performance. Her insistence that Jordan is “a Baker” and therefore safe reflects the idea that identity is a social label that can be worn and wielded. Yet the novel also shows the fragility of that performance—Jordan’s true origins are murky, and her aunt’s protection cannot shield her from the violence and loss that punctuate the story.

Her wealth and social position connect to the corrosive power of wealth and class privilege. Aunt Justine’s circle enjoys immunity from many consequences, and her plan to send Jordan to Shanghai is a privilege that others—like Khai and Bai, who face exclusion acts—do not have. The novel critiques this privilege even as it shows Jordan benefiting from it.

Aunt Justine’s role as a guardian who brings Jordan to a new city resonates with displacement, immigration, and the search for belonging. Jordan’s move to New York is a form of chosen displacement, and her eventual journey to Shanghai echoes the novel’s broader questions about home and rootlessness.

Her illness and the ghosts that haunt Jordan’s past connect to memory, trauma, and the haunting past. Aunt Justine’s decline forces Jordan to confront mortality, and the echo of her voice in the final chapter suggests that the past—and the people who shaped it—never fully recede.

Finally, Aunt Justine’s circle of independent women and her tacit acceptance of Jordan’s sexuality link to gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. While Aunt Justine never explicitly discusses Jordan’s desires, her provision of a space where Jordan can move freely—and her own independence—offers a model of female autonomy, even if it is circumscribed by class.

Five Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. How does Aunt Justine first enter Jordan’s life?

After Judge Baker dies, Jordan calls his aunt, Mrs. Sigourney Howard. Aunt Justine invites Jordan to come stay with her in New York, and Jordan accepts, traveling with her after the funeral.

1. What role does Aunt Justine play in Jordan’s introduction to demoniac?

On the train to New York, Aunt Justine gives Jordan her first real drop of demoniac, which Jordan describes as making her eyes water and throat ache before a sense of peace spills over her.

1. How does Aunt Justine respond to racist remarks from her friends?

When one friend dismisses the Chinese and demons, Aunt Justine pushes back, saying she doesn’t see them making as much trouble as “your average young hawk on the hill.” She also reassures Jordan that she is safe because she is a Baker.

1. What does Aunt Justine plan for Jordan’s future near the end of the novel?

In Chapter Twenty-Two, after suffering another setback, Aunt Justine discusses sending Jordan to Shanghai. This plan is mentioned as part of Jordan’s consideration of leaving New York.

1. How does Jordan echo Aunt Justine in the final chapter?

When Jordan speaks firmly to Myrtle’s ghost, she notes, “I sounded like Aunt Justine,” and then decides to go to Shanghai first, then Vietnam, carrying forward her aunt’s influence.

For further exploration of the novel’s ending and its implications, see the ending explained page, or browse questions and answers for more discussion.