How Does Miss Maudie Grow In To Kill A Mockingbird

In chapters four through eight, the audience gets to experience the continuous growth of Scout through her own eyes. Lee’s diction portrays Scout’s curiosity when says that the gum I found was fresh, and “ I licked it and waited for a while. When I did not die I crammed it into my mouth” (Lee 1). In this instance, Lee is trying to remind us of Scout’s innocence and compelled mindset, due to her young age. Similarly, when Dill comes back to Maycomb in the summer Scout starts to feel like a third wheel. Scout comments that, “Dill said I was the only girl he would ever love, then he neglected me” and “he only grew closer to Jem” (Lee 5). In this quote, Sout is jealous of how much time Dill and Jem are spending together. Jem’s jealousy can be seen earlier, when he says “spit it out right now”(Lee 1). In this quote, Jem is not only acting as an older brother to Scout, but he is also jealous that Scout did not give him any gum.

Lee reveals that religion is an important aspect of life in Maycomb during this time period. Evidently, when Scout asks if Miss Maudie is a foot washing-Baptist, Miss Maudie replies “my shell’s not that hard, child. I’m just a Baptist” (Lee 5). Notably, Scout gets angered when people remind her of her femininity. For example, Jem replies to her “you don’t have to come along, Angel May” (Lee 7). In order to prove that Scout is ‘not scared’, she always says yes to Jem and Dill’s nonsensical