How is the Maycomb courthouse described by Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout's description of the Maycomb County Courthouse begins on page 164:

The Maycomb County courthouse was faintly reminiscent of Arlington in one respect: the concrete pillars supporting its south roof were too heavy for their light burden. The pillars were all that remained standing when the original courthouse burned in 1856. Another courthouse was built around them. It is better to say, built in spite of them. But for the south porch, the Maycomb County courthouse was early Victorian, presenting an unoffensive vista when seen from the north. From the other side, however, Greek revival columns clashed with a big nineteenth-century clock tower housing a rusty unreliable instrument, a view indicating a people determined to preserve every physical scrap of the past.

The first thing Scout mentions is the concrete pillars on the south side. Referring to them as "too heavy for their light burden" could be a symbolic reference to the kinds of cases that are usually tried in the building. Perhaps people in Maycomb County take their light cases too seriously.

Scout mentions that the original courthouse burnt down in 1856 and the current courthouse is build up around, or in spite of, the original columns. She doesn't say why the courthouse burnt down, but this begins to produce a visual effect of an eclectic building.

The eclectic effect is continued with the addition of a Victorian façade, Greek revival columns, and a nineteenth-century clock tower. The image of the building with assorted styles and eras indicates that the people it serves are also varied. The Maycomb Courthouse is meant to serve townspeople and farmers, white folk and black. However, it does not serve the people of the county equally.

Scout describes the clock tower as unreliable, which might symbolize the unreliability of the court system that favors white over black and wealthy over poor, although it is meant to be an unbiased machine like a clock. Finally, Scout mentions that the designers tried to hold on to every scrap from the past. This could indicate that the people of Maycomb County tend to be traditional and old-fashioned. They ignore civil rights and equality, and hang on to bigotry, treating black people as if they are still slaves and second-class citizens.

How is the Maycomb courthouse described by Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Scout describes going past the courthouse on the night that she, Jem, and Dill follow Atticus to the jail (chapter 15). She talks about passing through the town square, and that on the south side of the square the courthouse is more or less in darkness. Even without this information, we can assume that a building as important as this would have a prime, central location within the town, and Scout’s description is in keeping with this. She also mentions that Atticus once had his law office in the courthouse but that he decided to move to ‘quieter quarters’ in the bank building. The courthouse, then, certainly seems to be in the busiest part of town.

Although it has such an important role to play in the life of the town, the courthouse itself does not seem to be a particularly imposing building. Scout drops a telling remark in passing when she describes what Maycomb was like when it was first established:

In the beginning its buildings were solid, its courthouse proud, its streets graciously wide. (chapter 13)

This implies that the courthouse, along with the town in general, has now fallen into a somewhat dilapidated state. In fact, we learn later that the original courthouse burned down and a new one was erected, in rather a mishmash of architectural styles. The feeling of decay that hangs around the place is reinforced with Scout’s description of the fusty, dingy old offices within the building (chapter 16).

How is the Maycomb courthouse described by Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

• In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout describes the Maycomb courthouse as having large old pillars from the previous courthouse before it burned down.
• She notes the unreliable clock tower.
• She also mentions that the designers of the newer building were old-fashioned and tried to hold onto the old look of the courthouse before it had burned down.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does the narrator describe Maycomb county?

In chapter 1, Scout describes Maycomb as a "tired old town" that consistently experiences extremely hot weather, which makes people move slowly. Scout goes on to say, "A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer," and mentions that there was nothing to do in the small town (Lee, 6). As Scout begins to describe her reclusive neighbor and the rumors surrounding him, she mentions that the Radley family kept their doors closed on Sundays, which is something that is "alien to Maycomb's ways." Scout goes on to say,

Of all days Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore shoes (Lee, 9).

As the novel progresses, the readers develop a better perspective of the small Southern town. In chapter 6, the neighbors gather together in the streets after Mr. Radley discharges his gun. The entire community also attempts to save Miss Maudie's furniture when her house catches fire in chapter 8. These two incidents reveal that Maycomb is a tight-knit community where neighbors look out for each other.

Despite Maycomb's positive small-town atmosphere, Jem and Scout gain perspective on Maycomb's ugly prejudice. The children are harassed because their father defends an innocent black man in court. Tom Robinson is wrongly convicted of assaulting and raping a white woman. Following the trial, Jem describes his perspective of Maycomb's community by saying,

It’s like bein‘ a caterpillar in a cocoon, that’s what it is. . . . Like somethin’ asleep wrapped up in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb folks were the best folks in the world, least that’s what they seemed like (Lee, 219).

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does the narrator describe Maycomb county?

In the first chapter of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout shares some details about Maycomb County. For example, it can be found twenty miles east of Finch's Landing, which was discovered by Simon Finch. Scout describes Maycomb County as "an old town" where during rain, the streets turned red and muddy. It is hot in Maycomb County, and a day seems longer than twenty-four hours. The people move slowly and most are very poor. There is a main residential street where Scout lives.

Scout also shares that most homes keep their shutters and doors open, except for the Radley place. Certain crimes and misfortunes around town are Boo Radley's fault. Finally, in chapter 8, Scout informs the reader that it is snowing for the first time in Maycomb County since 1885.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does the narrator describe Maycomb county?

Maycomb, as it should be obvious, is a southern county. The town of Maycomb itself is a small, dusty town. The people know each other well, and the weather is often hot. The roads are made of red southern clay, and kids are often seen running about and playing. There is a small downtown area, and according to our narrator, "Maycomb had recently been told it had nothing to fear but fear itself" (Lee). Check the first chapter of the book for more information.

Hope this helps!

What are ten descriptions of the Maycomb Courthouse in To Kill a Mockingbird?

The courthouse is in the middle of town and not far from where Scout and her family live. Scout describes the courthouse as if it were slightly dilapidated because she says it "sagged in the square" (5). The courthouse must not have had indoor plumbing when Boo Radley was a teenager because he and the Cunningham boys locked Mr. Conner in the Courthouse's outhouse the night they went joyriding in a flivver (10). However, many more descriptions of the courthouse can be found in chapter 16.

First, Scout says that it reminds her of Arlington because of the concrete pillars that support the roof on the south side. Since part of the courthouse was burned in 1856, another part of the building was built up around what remained. As a result, the north part of the courthouse looks Victorian. From another side of the building, Scout says that "Greek revival columns clashed with a big nineteenth-century clock tower housing a rusty unreliable instrument" (162).

There are two levels inside of the courthouse. The courtroom itself is housed on the second floor. One must pass different county clerks on the way. Scout calls those who work at the courthouse "creatures of their environment: little gray-faced men, they seemed untouched by wind or sun" (163). In addition, the hallways are dark, so they need to have the lights on during the daytime.

Finally, Scout describes the smell of the courthouse as follows:

". . . [it] smelled of decaying record books mingled with old damp cement and stale urine" (163).

Not only does the courthouse stink, but it is always dusty. The floorboards are also rough, which suggests that they are neglected as much as the rest of the building.

What are ten descriptions of the Maycomb Courthouse in To Kill a Mockingbird?

The Maycomb Courthouse resembled the Arlington Courthouse (1). It had huge concrete pillars that supported a light roof; these were still standing after it burnt in 1856 (2).  The southern porch was nearly Victorian (3). On the other side of the courthouse there were Greek revival columns, and a big 19th-century clock tower with a rusty clock (4).  The courtroom was on the second floor (5) and to get to it one had to pass "sundry sunless county cubbyholes" (6) of the: tax assessor, the tax collector, the county clerk, the county solicitor, the circuit clerk, and the judge of probate. These people worked in cool dim hutches (7) that smelled of decaying record books, mingled with old damp cement and stale urine (8). One needed to turn the lights on during the day (9) and there was always a film of dust on the floorboards (10).

How is the Maycomb community described in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Maycomb is presented as a fairly typical small Southern town. The pace of life is generally quite slow, and nothing much ever happens. However, when things do happen, they tend to reveal a lot about the town and the people who live there. The trial of Tom Robinson—the centerpiece of the novel—tells us a lot about the deep-seated racial prejudice that exists in this neck of the woods.

The case also provides insight into the rigid social hierarchy that prevails in Maycomb. The Ewell family is widely looked down upon by the townsfolk as the lowest of the low—lazy, no good "white trash," universally despised for their chronic aversion to soap and a hard day's work. It is telling, however, that the false testimonies of Mayella Ewell and her revolting father Bob are still widely accepted. The Ewells may be "white trash," but they're still white, and in Maycomb that still puts them higher up the ladder of social respectability than Tom, or any other African-American.

How is the Maycomb community described in To Kill a Mockingbird?

If we have a look at the first chapter of this incredible novel, we can see that Maycomb is above all described as a place where tradition rules and where the inhabitants are on the whole ordered by customs related to the heat. Consider the following quote:

Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.

In addition, because Maycomb is a farming county, this impacts the society of Maycomb as a whole. Consider how Atticus explains the poverty of this region to Scout:

Atticus said professional people were poor because the farmers were poor. As Maycomb County was farm country, nickels and dimes were hard to come by for doctors and dentists and lawyers.

So, Maycomb is therefore a society that is dominated by its weather conditions and also by its farming nature, in addition to having a rigid social schedule of who can associate with who and where individuals stand in the social ranking.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, how does the narrator describe her hometown?

Maycomb, Alabama, of To Kill a Mockingbird is modeled after Harper Lee's hometown of Monroe, Alabama, in the southern part of the state. In fact, it was the courthouse of Monroe that was used in the movie version of the novel, and a re-staging of the trial is done every year at this courthouse that sits in the middle of town. Maycomb is a sleepy town in which people are from old families, and people know one another. When Miss Caroline comes as a new teacher, she is held in suspicion because she is from Winston County, which is in the northern part of the state; moreover, Winston County, unlike the rest of Alabama, did not secede from the Union during the Civil War.

In Chapter 13, Scout tells her readers that Maycomb has "a caste system." The Finches are descended from land and slave owners, so they are among the "old names":

Aunt Alexandra was one of the last of her kind: she had river-boat, boarding-school manners; let any moral come along and she would uphold it; she was born in the objective case; she was an incurable gossip. When Aunt Alexandra went to school, self-doubt could not be found in any textbook, so she knew not its meaning.

Others who rank with the Finches are Mrs. Merriweather, Miss Maudie, Mrs. Dubose, and Judge Taylor; just slightly below the Finches are the businessmen such as Mr. Atwood, who owns the paper and Link Deas, and the Sheriff Heck Tate is also respectable.

Then, there is the disgraced Dolphus Raymond, a fallen gentleman who lives with blacks. The Cunninghams and others of "Old Sarum" in the countryside are poor, but possessing a certain dignity. For, Mr. Cunningham also pays Atticus although it is with food or some commodity.

The "disgrace of Maycomb for three generations" are the Ewells. Considered white trash by the Maycomb community, the Ewells live in a shotgun shack out by the dump. A drunkard and "ne'er do well," Ewell has no ambition to improve his life, or the lives of his eight motherless children. He does, however, consider himself better than any black person.

At the far end of town is the black community.