Who Is Miss Maudie In To Kill A Mockingbird

Do you have an adult in your life that is like a friend? For Jem and Scout in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, that person is a neighbor named Miss Maudie. Miss Maudie is a character that makes the book a whole lot more meaningful to the reader. She helps Scout through some hard times and somehow manages to get through the hard times in her own life. Miss Maudie is one of my favorite characters and adds a lot to the novel. Miss Maudie, according to the children, “was a widow, a chameleon lady who worked in her flower beds in an old straw hat and men’s coveralls, but after her five o’clock bath she would appear on the porch and reign over the street in magisterial beauty” (Lee 56). Miss Maudie is an avid gardener and loves pretty

After Miss Maudie’s house burns down, the children emerge from their house to find her gazing at her charred house and plants. Jem and Scout apologize to Miss Maudie, feeling bad that her house burned down. Grinning, Miss Maudie replies, “Always wanted a smaller house, Jem Finch. Gives me more yard. Just think, I’ll have more room for my azaleas now!” (Lee 97). This answer surprises the children. After more questions Miss Maudie says, “Don’t you worry about me, Jean Louise Finch. There are ways of doing things you don't know about. Why, I'll build me a little house and take me a couple of roomers and--gracious, I'll have the finest yard in Alabama. Those Bellingraths’ll look plain puny when I get started!” (Lee 97). Miss Maudie then asks about what has been happening in the lives of the children. Scout says, “Miss Maudie puzzled me. With most of her possessions gone and her beloved a shambles, she still took a lively and cordial interest in Jem’s and my affairs” (97). Miss Maudie is almost unaffected by all of the tragedy that has just occurred and she is already making plans to rebuild her life. She doesn’t waste any time on grieving. This is my favorite part of the book because it proves how strong-willed Miss Maudie is. When faced with extreme loss, she only sees the good. It really proves how strong of a person and how adaptable she

She adds a lot of advice and lessons about life. She tells Scout that “there are just some kind of men who-- who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results” (Lee 60). She provides advice and guidance for Scout and helps Scout understand things that Atticus does not teach her. If she was not included, then Scout and other people would lose a lot of knowledge about the trial, Boo Radley, and her father. For example, without Miss Maudie, Scout would not learn about how great of a person her father is. Miss Maudie tells her, “Gracious child, I was raveling a thread, wasn’t even thinking about your father, but now that I am I’ll say this: Atticus Finch is the same in his house as he is on the public streets” (Lee 60). This is an extreme compliment to Atticus and helps Scout to understand the kind of person that her father really is. Another example from the novel would be when Miss Maudie is calming Aunt Alexandra down in the kitchen. Miss Maudie says that they are “paying the highest tribute” they can pay a man. Aunt Alexandra asks who and Miss Maudie replies, “The handful of people in this town who say that fair play is not marked White Only; the handful of people who say a fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humility to think, when they look at a Negro, there but for the Lord's kindness am I”