What does Miss Maudie call the snowman in To Kill a Mockingbird and why?
Jem and Scout are excited about the unseasonal snowfall in Maycomb since neither of them had ever seen snow before. With school canceled, they naturally did what every child new to snow would be expected to do: build a snowman. But the snowfall was light, and Jem soon realizes they...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
won't have enough snow to build a full-sized snowman; even with the snow from Miss Maudie's yard, there wouldn't be enough. So Jem comes up with the idea of using dirt and mud for the inside with snow on the outside. Additionally, they decide to make the snowman look like their neighbor, Dick Avery, complete with a big belly and hands on his hips. But whenAtticus sees how closely the snowman resembles Mr. Avery, he declares that
"You've perpetrated a near libel here in the front yard. We've got to disguise this fellow...
"You can't go around making caricatures of the neighbors." (Chapter 8)
So, the children reduced the belly, "swap[ped] a broom for the stovewood, and put an apron on him." They completed the transforamtion by adding Miss Maudie's sunhat "on the snowman's head and jammed her hedgeclippers into the crook of his arm." Since the snowman had characteristics of both Miss Maudie and Mr. Avery--a man and a woman--Scout overheard Miss Maudie tell Atticus that they had
"... erected an absolute morphodite in that yard!" (Chapter 8)
But Scout had misunderstood Miss Maudie's "morphodite" for the word "hermaphrodite"--a character with both male and female traits. Additionally, they had also created a mixed-race snowman--black on the inside and white on the outside.
How do Miss Maudie and Atticus react to the snowman in To Kill a Mockingbird?
One cold winter day, it snowed in Maycomb. Both Scout and Jem had never seen snow before. They decided to build a snowman. Atticus advised them that there might not be enough snow on the ground to build an entire snowman, but they were determined. Jem asked Miss Maudie if he could use some of her snow. She agreed that he could. Scout and Jem worked hard, and slowly their snowman came together. They made him look like Mr. Avery, a neighbor. When they showed Atticus, he announced that they "had done a jim-dandy job" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 8). He commended them on working hard to create a snowman with so little snow. He praised them for their innovation. Atticus looked more closely and realized how much the snowman resembled Mr. Avery. He told Jem that he could not "go around making caricatures of the neighbors." He suggested they disguise the snowman:
Atticus suggested that Jem hone down his creation's front a little, swap a broom for the stovewood, and put an apron on him.
Then Jem had an idea. He took Miss Maudie's sunhat and hedge trimmers. He used them for the snowman. Miss Maudie came out to see the snow woman that resembled her. She smiled and pretended to be upset.