Miss Maudie Character Analysis

How does Lee present Miss Maudie in Part I of the novel and what is her importance in the book as a whole?

Miss Maudie Atkinson is a character we see less of in the part I of the novel, making her more of a minor character as a whole. However, there is much more to Miss Maudie despite her lack of appearance in the pages. Through the eyes of six-year-old narrator Scout, we can tell she is a passionate gardener, and a friend of the children.

We can see that Miss Maudie is very generous to the children. This is suggested multiple times throughout Part I of the novel, including “Jem and I had always enjoyed the free run of Miss Maudie’s yard if we kept out of her azaleas,” showing she is kind enough to allow the children to play in something she cares deeply about. This also suggests that she cares very much about Jem and Scout as well. We know she loves her front garden, as she goes to enormous lengths to dispose of a single blade of nut-grass, as according to Miss Maudie “one sprig of nut-grass can ruin a whole yard,” making this act one of generosity. We can tell that by welcoming Jem and Scout into her life, she has almost taken the responsibility as a mother figure upon herself, as Atticus is not always clear in a way that Scout can understand. For example, when she wonders why

We know this as most people love to gossip, whereas Miss Maudie does not see the point in doing so. Miss Stephanie Crawford, for example,is one of Maycomb’s biggest gossipers— we know this is true, as according to Miss Maudie, she once “woke up in the middle of the night and found [Boo Radley] looking in the window at her,”which Miss Maudie finds ridiculous. Miss Stephanie is proven to be lying after Miss Maudie replied “what did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him? That shut her up for a while.” By doing this, Miss Maudie has made herself clear on how she views