There are marked differences between the attitudes of Miss Stephanie and Miss Maudie. In Chapter 16, Miss Stephanie is eager and excited to attend the trial; on the other hand, Miss Maudie refuses to go.
On the day that the trial of Tom Robinson begins, there is a virtual parade of personalities: Mr. Dolphus Raymond, presumably drunk, rides by on his thoroughbred horse in an unsteady manner; a wagonload of women wearing long-sleeved cotton dresses are driven by a bearded man who wears a wool hat. They are Mennonites who rarely come to town. A backward man named X Billups passes; his name is X because an X is all his parents could write when they filled out the birth form. Various other odd individuals pass until the wagon of "foot-washers" pass and one woman shrilly criticizes Miss Maudie, citing a passage from the scripture.
This is the virtual circus of people that the authentic Miss Maudie chooses not to be among in the courthouse. She also feels that it is "morbid" to watch the unfortunate Tom Robinson be on trial for his life, likening the entire affair to "a Roman carnival." On the other hand, Miss Stephanie delights in such goings-on because this occasion feeds her nature for gossip. She passes Miss Maudie's house wearing a hat and gloves for the "gala occasion." Clearly, Miss Maudie is much more charitable in her attitude about people than is Miss Stephanie, who delights in talking about what people have done and said as she has proven in previous chapters, when she has gossiped about Boo Radley and others.
No comments:
Post a Comment