Maycomb A Balanced Society Of The Good

Maycomb: A Balanced Society Of The Good And Evil Essay, Research Paper

The novel To Kill a Mocking Bird written by Harper Lee is told from the perspective of a six-year-old girl named Scout. The story focuses on the maturation of Scout and her elder brother Jem in the “tired old town” of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930’s. The story takes place in Maycomb, a classic southern town of that era, a town full of gossip, tradition and burdened with a legacy of racism and prejudice. Jem and Scout live together with their father Atticus and their black cook Calpurnia in the small town of Maycomb. Atticus is a prominent lawyer and the Finch family is reasonably well off in comparison to the rest of society. A major plot in the story is the Boo Radley plot. One summer, Jem (10) and Scout (6) befriend a boy named Dill, who had come to live in Maycomb for the summer, and the trio acts out stories and plays together. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother, Arthur, nicknamed Boo, has lived there for years without venturing outside. Jem and Scout had always been afraid to go near the house for there were many scary rumors about Boo Radley, such as that he had stabbed his father in the knee and that he eats meat raw. As the story progresses they learn more about Boo and realize he was not at all like the way the rumors made him appear to be and at the end of the story Boo even saved them from the attack by Bob Ewell. Another major plot in the story was the Tom Robinson trial plot. Atticus was appointed to defend a black man named Tom Robinson who had been accused of raping a white girl named Mayella Ewell. Many white people of Maycomb were outraged at his decision to defend Tom and did their best to make life difficult for the Finches. As the trial drew nearer, racial tensions between the blacks and whites mounted, and their schoolmates subjected Jem and Scout to many insults and abuse. Despite Atticus’ efforts, Tom was convicted and sent to prison. Atticus was going to appeal to a higher court but Tom tried to escape from prison and was shot to death. Harper Lee presented a more balanced society in Maycomb because she delineated many positive characters as well as the negative characters that contrasted the positive characters.

Miss Stephanie Crawford was a negative character in the story. Miss Stephanie Crawford was known as a ..neighborhood scold’. She was a terrible gossip who loved to poke into and around in the lives everyone and anyone in Maycomb. At the beginning of the story the reader learns that most of what Jem and Scout have heard about Boo Radley was from Miss Stephanie Crawford who claimed to know all about the mysterious events surrounding Boo Radley and the events that happened over twenty years ago. Although what she said sounded pretty veritable at the beginning of the story, as the story progressed it became increasingly obvious that most of what she said about Boo Radley were completely rumors with not base or fact whatsoever. Miss Stephanie Crawford’s favorite past time was to gather tidbits of rumors or gossip, preferably on the ignominy on one or another of the families living in Maycomb. She was an extremely nosy person who loved to pry into other people’s private lives. She felt no qualms about spreading the rumors she heard and more often than not adds extra details to rumors making the rumors even more outrageous and ambiguous than they had been before. Jem and Scout disliked Miss Stephanie even more after the trial because she badgered after them to answer her questions about the trial. ..Miss Stephanie’s nose quivered with curiosity. She wanted to know who all gave us permission to go to court .V she didn’t see us but it was all over town this morning that we were in the Colored balcony etc... She was thoughtless and maladroit in the way she pestered two children so persistently over a case, which their father had lost just yesterday. She is a racist person who saw herself as being special and ranking a lot higher above the black people.

Miss Maudie Atkinson was in many ways the exact opposite to Miss Stephanie Crawford. Miss Maudie Atkinson was the Finches’ neighbor, a sharp-tongued widow in her late forties and an old friend of the family. Miss Maudie shared Atticus’ passion for justice and was the children’s best friend among the adults of Maycomb. She was not partisan or racist and treated everyone equally regardless of race. She was a very optimistic person for even when her house burnt down she was not terribly upset and simply said that she had always wanted a bigger garden. She never gossiped and she never tried to shame someone deliberately simply for her own pleasure and satisfaction as the way Miss Stephanie did with Scout. Miss Maudie made delectable cakes and would often make small cakes especially for each of the children. When Dill and Jem would not let Scout play with them, Scout often went to seek the company of Miss Maudie. She was one of the few people who supported Atticus in the Tom Robinson trial and helped to soothe Jem and Scout’s feelings when they were feeling extremely desolated after the trial. Ms. Maudie said (pg. 215); ..Did it ever strike you that Judge Taylor naming Atticus to defend that boy was no coincidence. That Judge Taylor might have had his reasons for naming him... and also said, ..Atticus won’t win,