Life in Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird

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What impressions are there of life in Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird Maycomb is seen as a tired and sleepy town, where nothing happens. Maycomb is a very isolated town itself, so it is insular. There are no nearby towns or villages so are very alone. This makes the town so boring and tired. Nothing very exciting happens in Maycomb, if there is something reasonably different from to Maycomb’s usual routine then the community get both excited but also scared. For example when it snowed Scout was scared that the sky was falling, but Jem knew what it was and got very excited and managed to make a snowman. When the Radleys’ house is supposedly broken into by Negroes, and the mad dog incident are both examples of Maycomb’s panic at something different. The trial is a very prominent example of something that Maycomb finds exciting and new, the new part being a white man trying to prove a black man innocent. The Maycomb community make a family day out or picnic out of the trial, even thought is a very serious and unpleasant court case. “It was a gala occasion.” “The courthouse square was covered with picnic parties sitting on newspapers, washing down biscuit and syrup with warm milk from fruit jars.” Nothing has changed in Maycomb, it is very traditional and tries to keep as much of its past as possible. Maycomb town is obsessed with background; it clings to old views the main one being prejudice against blacks. Maycomb needs the likes of Atticus and his children to bring the town forward. For example the Maycomb County Courthouse: “a view indicating a people determined to preserve every physical scrap of the past.” Racism in Maycomb has existed since the Indians. It shows how Maycomb is based on extreme racial and prejudice. “If General Jackson hadn’t run the Creeks.” Maycomb is also shown as a town that has not been brought up to present times by the state of the actual town. It is very poor and in disrepair, it only has one taxi. When Miss Maudie’s house catches on fire the fire engine does not reach Maycomb for a while because Maycomb is a very isolated town and not very important so therefore there is now nearby fire station. “In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop; grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.” Maycomb seems to be an innocent, peaceful town when first seen. Harper Lee proves to show this is a misconception made by outsiders. Throughout the novel we learn the ways and life of Maycomb. “Maycomb County had recently been told it had nothing to fear but fear

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