Miss Maudie
teaches the children several life lessons: To show sympathy and consideration for others, to
exercise moderation, to be humble and satisfied with what one has, and to not tolerate
hypocrisy.
Moderation and sympathy:
While sitting with Miss Maudie on her porch one evening,asks her neighbor ifis still
alive. Miss Maudie says that he is; however, he remains inside. When Scout asks her why Boo does
not wish to go outside, Miss Maudie replies,"Wouldn't you stay in the house if you didn't
want to come out?" (Ch.5) Then, she tries to explain to Scout how intractable Mr. Radley
was because of being a "foot-washing Baptist"; that is, he believed that
"anything that's pleasure is a sin"(Ch.5). Miss Maudie explains that the Bible in the
hand of an intractable man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of a good, stable man.
That is, Mr. Radley's punishment of Arthur when he was a teenager was excessive, affecting
Arthur's isolated life. Miss Maudie implies that a more moderate punishment would have been
better for Arthur.
Consideration for
others:
When a rare snow comes to Maycomb, Miss Maudie allows
the children to gather some of her snow to make a snowman. But when she notices thathas taken
her hat, she calls to him to return it. Later, Jem and Scout hear Atticus talking with Miss
Maudie after he has scolded Jem for making a caricature of Mr. Avery. The children hear Miss
Maudie say," . . . erected an absolute morphodite in that yardAtticus, you'll never raise
'em!" (Ch.8) She teases Atticus but agrees with his having told the children that they
cannot make imitations of the neighbors.
Strength and
courage:
After her house burns to the ground, Miss Maudie is
courageous and strong, and she teaches the children by example to not be materialistic. When
Scout asks her, "You ain't grievin', Miss Maudie?" she answers, "Grieving
child? Why, I hated that old cow barn. Thought of settin' fire to it a hundred times myself,
except they'd lock me up" (Ch.8). She does not mourn the loss of her possessions as many a
person would, nor does she feel sorry for herself. Instead, she speaks of a new garden that she
will have. She also expresses her sorrow for all "the danger and commotion" the fire
has caused the neighbors.
Counteracting
hypocrisy:
After the trial of Tom Robinson, Scout's Aunt
Alexandra holds a tea at Atticus's house. Mrs. Merriweather, a sanctimonious hypocrite who
attends the Maycomb Methodist Episcopal Church South, praises the Reverend J. Grimes Everett, a
missionary in Africa, for the work that he does. Shortly after her compliments to the minister,
however, Mrs. Merriweather complains about the black people in Maycomb. She describes her maid
as "a sulky darky" who does not act like a Christian lately because she grumbles about
the verdict of the Tom Robinson trial. Then, Mrs. Merriweather derogates Atticus in his own
house as she speaks to one of her friends named Gertrude,
"I tell you there are some good but misguided people in this town. Good, but
misguided . . . who think they're doing right . . . a while back, but all they did was stir 'em
up. That's all they did. . . " (Ch. 24)
When Miss
Maudie hears these words of Mrs. Merriweather's, she sarcastically asks Mrs. Merriweather,
"His [Atticus's] food doesn't stick going down, does it?" (Ch.24) Mrs. Merriweather
pretends that she does not understand what is being asked of her. However, Aunt Alexandra has
also heard this question, and she gives Miss Maudie a look of "pure gratitude" for the
attack on Mrs. Merriweather's hypocrisy since Mrs. Merriweather has praised Reverend Everett,
but disparaged Mr.in whose house she is eating and drinking tea.
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