“ Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold,”
Maycomb on the whole is a very traditional south American town, very little industry what so ever, mainly farming and cotton plantations, Maycomb had also suffered in the economic depression of the nineteen thirties
“nothing to buy and no money to buy it with.”
“a poor slow town”
Maycomb was literally
“an old Town but a tired old Town”
The way of life in Maycomb was extremely laid back and relaxed
“the people ambled across the street”
The inhabitants of Maycomb were extremely non-adventurous
“Nothing to do outside the boundaries”
This shows that the people don’t mind things as they are and are reluctant to change. For their amusement they like to make gossip, and extremely enjoy spreading it about.
The Radley family totals four; Mr. Radley, Mrs. Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley (Boo). In the book when Mr. Radley dies Nathan Radley takes Mr. Radleys place in disciplining Boo. The Radleys in general keep themselves to them selves, especially Mrs. Radley who does not even cross
“the street for a mid-morning coffee break with her neighbors, and certainly never joined a missionary circle.”
The Radley’s place is described as being dark, dingy and mysterious and, every description of it is written in such a way that makes it feel like a haunted house;
“Jutted into a sharp curve beyond our house. Walking south one faced its porch;”
“A swept yard that was never swept”
“Oak trees kept the sun away,”
“with green shutters darkened to Grey,”
“remains of a picket fence drunkenly guard the front yard,”
Lee has created a tense atmosphere here by describing every minute detail, Lee has also left small pieces un described allowing your imagination run wild.
Also the inhabitant of the house is described in this way
“Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom,”
Accused of
“peering through windows.”
He was also accused of stealthily crimes, which he never committed
“peoples chickens and household pets were found mutilated;”
This shows that the inhabitants of Maycomb are extremely quick to accuse and very slow to forgive; when Boo was cleared of this crime people still could not forgive him
“people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their suspicions.”
We learn that the Cunninghams are a poor family but not a selfish one
“never take anything they can’t pay back,”
We also learn that they are a family who would never scrounge just because they are poor
“They don’t have much but they get along on it”
Lee also portrays the Cunningham’s as being proud of what they have and always make an effort to look their best
“He did have on a clean shirt and a neatly mended pair of overalls.”
The Cunningham’s were poor but they always found a way of repaying their debts
“Atticus said, “but before the year’s out I’ll have been paid,”
“one morning Jem and I found a load of stove wood in the back yard.”
The Ewells are a complete contrast to the Cunninghams, they were the
“disgrace of Maycomb for three generations.”
Lee has cleverly put these two families in complete contrast purposely, so that we feel sorry for the Cunningham’s and not for the Ewells.
Burris Ewell, one of the youngest Ewells is described by Scout as being
“the filthiest human I had ever seen.”
“His neck was dark grey, the backs of his hands were rusty,”
This shows that the have not been brought up well at all, unlike the Cunninghams. The fact that they have no mother also comes up and that there dad is
“contentious”
This means he is argumentative and very short tempered.
Lee uses Scout to highlight the racism, narrow-mindedness, intolerance and religious minds of the occupants of Maycomb. Lee also uses Scout as an example to magnify the poor teaching standard of the teachers of southern America. She satirizes the teachers and the whole education system. It is slightly biased making opinions of people only from one aspect, but overall it does give a good overall view of the community, what they are like and what they think.
Lee has ingeniously captured the whole feel of the town using two contrasting families and in one sense a neutral family.
