Author: S2KY

Harper Lee uses the tone of the specific phrases that Miss Maudie says in the passage to present Maudie’s views of Maycomb County.

“We’re the safest folks in the world,”

I think that Miss Maudie means that the people of Maycomb County are not exposed to the rest of the world’s views and opinions as there are not many problems within Maycomb County. However, the Tom Robinson case is the first major problem which the county has encountered since Boo Radley and that has caused them to ‘be called upon to be Christians’ and that’s why they’ve got ‘men like Atticus to go’ for them.

Hypocrisy is shown in Chapter 24 through manner in which Mrs Merriweather speaks about the Mrunas and then the black people in Maycomb County.

‘Oh child, those poor Mrunas,’.

Mrs Merriweather says this when Scout asks her what they’d been studying about.

The Mrunas were an African tribe who were being subjugated by a white man known as J. Grimes Everett. He was a missionary who was trying to spread Christianity to a culture which did not need it.

Later in the chapter, Miss Merriweather begins to talk about Ton Robinson’s wife but she did not even remember his surname because Scout needed to remind her.

‘That darky’s wife. Tom’s wife, Tom -‘

This shows hypocrisy because she is showing sympathy towards the Mrunas but she does not even bother to remember the names of the black people within Maycomb County.

I think this is because she thinks as though the Mrunas are in a lesser position as they are not within the United States and therefore cannot do anything which would directly affect her. However, it was only a label from the white people given to the Mrunas as they seemed more worse off than they did so they thought intervening would contribute to their development. I feel as though the white people were only intending on taking some form of control over the Mrunas because they wanted to take advantage of them.

She uses profane words to describe black people in Maycomb because to her, they seem like a nuisance and are ruining the society due to their presence. She might think this because black people, or more specifically African-Americans, we’re at the bottom of social class and are no use to Maycomb.

Harper Lee has shown the children’s change in character by making them lose their innocence.

‘His face was streaked with angry tears as we made our way through the cheerful crowd’

This quotation is descibing Jem as he is leaving the court-house. The fact that he’s crying suggests that he is unhappy about the outcome of the Tom Robinson case. What interests me the most is that Jem is crying whilst walking through a crowd of people cheering. I can infer that Jem has come to the realisation that the people of Maycomb County are not the people he grew up believing them to be.

‘He would look up at Atticus, then down at the floor,’

This quotation is also describing Jem’s actions after the court-case. Jem may be acting like this because he might believe that it is Atticus’ fault that Tom Robinson has been wrongfully convicted. This could present a new side of Jem where he does not respect Atticus as much as he did.

Harper Lee uses Miss Maudie (a character known to help move the story along) to describe the courthouse as a ‘Roman Carnival’. This description of the courthouse makes it seem much more primitive and barbaric as the Romans used to have gladiator fights where the Emperor would decide the fate of the losing warrior. This is similar to the injustice in the Maycomb courthouse as the court was more in favour of white people in those times. Furthermore, gladiator fights were known to be watched as a form of entertainment and the people in Maycomb County who were watching the the trial were only there to see Tom Robinson convicted knowing that he would definitely lose the case.

Harper Lee also uses Scout to describe the people present at the courthouse at the time. The most prominent description being Judge John Taylor. Scout describes him as a ‘sleepy old shark’. This suggests that he could be

‘Another courthouse was built around them. It is better to say, built in spite of them’

This quotation tells us that a new courthouse was built around the remnants of the previous one. They may still be there because it could be one of the last few remains of the old Maycomb County and a reminder of white supremacy when they had more power in the court. But in more explicit terms, they could’ve been left there as resources were low after the Great Depression in 1929.

Calpurnia’s identity is shown as quite unknown and lost in Chapter 12 in To Kill A Mockingbird.

‘That Calpurnia led a modest double life never dawned on me.’

This shows that Calpurnia was living a double life which she didn’t feel belonged to more. By living with the Finches, she was disrespected by the white community and all she was known as, was the Finches’ maid. She was also quite separated by the black community as she spent so much time with the Finches that she did not even speak to her son, Zeebo. This suggests and she is not really accepted in both ‘societies’ and is stuck between the two.

I think that Harper Lee presents courage in Chapter 11 by introducing Mrs Dubose and making Atticus tell Jem to read to her despite his fear of her.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.”

The quotation above was said by Atticus to Jem. I think that Atticus was trying to tell Jem that Mrs Dubose had more courage than a ‘man with a gun’ as she was fighting for her life whilst trying to break off morphine. A man with a gun appears to be powerful and strong but in reality, they’re just like anyone else with the ability to kill.

I think that Atticus keeps his marksmanship a secret from his children because he does not want them to grow up knowing that his achievement was being a ‘dead shot’. I think this because Atticus realised that this was a skill which he could possibly abuse.

‘down at the Landing when he was coming up, if he shot fifteen times and get fourteen doves he’d complain about wasting ammunition’

This shows that when Atticus was younger, he was confident enough in his shooting to get all the doves but I think that he missed on purpose. This may be because he doesn’t want to abuse his ability and kill all the doves in cold blood therfore making the excuse of missing the last bullet. Linking this back to not telling his children, I think he did not tell them as his humbleness over the years and didn’t want to seem arrogant to his children as this could make them boast about their father’s achievements. This was shown when Miss Maudie told Scout that her father was ‘One Shot Finch’ and Scout wanted to tell her friends at school.

We learn that Atticus is a very intelligent man who is well aware and is a good role model for his children.

‘But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realised he wanted me to heat every word he said’

I think this because Atticus wanted Scout to hear every word he said but he did not say what he wanted directly to her but spoke to Uncle Jack. I think that speaking about someone ‘behind their backs’ with them actually present makes them truly know that that is what other people are thinking about them. If Atticus just told this straight to Scout ,face to face, she’ll feel as though she should rebel against her fathers word to get her way. If this were to happen, it would go against Atticus’ intentions.

Boo intrigues the children because he hasn’t been seen in Maycomb County for many years so the children are curious to find out what he is like. Furthermore, the rumours which have been created by other members of Maycomb society makes him seem like a ‘malevolent phantom’ which makes his story sound like some form of a horror story for them to discover.

We learn about resilience in Chapter 8 through Miss Maudie by her trying to take of care of her plants despite her house being burnt down.

‘She held up her hands. A network of tiny lines criss-crossed her palms, brown with dirt and dried blood’

It shows that Miss Maudie is resilient because she lost her house yet was still determined to take care of what meant the most to her: her flowers. She also seemed to be unfazed by the fact that her house had been burnt down as she says that she didn’t really like it anyway.