Chapter 13 of "To Kill A Mockingbird" goes into the history of Finch Landing and Macomb, Alabama. Scout informs the reader that "Macomb is an ancient city." She also relays that
"although Maycomb was ignored during the War Between the States, Reconstruction rule and economic ruin forced the town to grow. It grew inward. New people so rarely settled there, the same families married the same families until the members of the community looked faintly alike. There was indeed a caste system in Maycomb, but to my mind it worked this way: the older citizens, the present generation of people... were utterly predictable to each other."
Scout is letting the reader know that change doesn't happen in Maycomb easily because traditions are so strong and new ideas are so hard to find. The same people have been in charge for so long that when they die, or get to old to make the rules, their relatives and children take over. These people have the same value system and beliefs that the previous generation had because they are such an isolated community.
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