Character Analysis Of Miss Maudie In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, teaches about compassion and carefreeness, and empathy. Miss Maudie Atkinson developed these ideas wonderfully. She was the best developed character in the novel and taught the reader many things. Miss Maudie’s character represents a carefree attitude, compassion, and empathy.

The light and carefree heart in this novel is staged as Miss Maudie Atkinson, Scout and Jem’s neighbor from across the street. Miss Maudie lives simply and many of the other people in Maycomb do not understand this. Each time they pass her house, a family of ‘foot-washing Baptists’ shouts at her telling her how her love of flowers is a sin, and how she should spend that time inside with the Bible. Miss Maudie just lets it roll off and tells the children “sometimes a Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a bottle of whiskey in the hand of-- oh, of your father” (Lee 60). Even though some …show more content…

The best example of this is when the women of Maycomb are at the Finch house gathering for tea. Aunt Alexandra invited the ladies over, but when the conversation turns to the trial, things get sour. Neither Aunt Alexandra or MIss Maudie agree with the women on the subject, and so Miss Maudie contradicts the women’s impolite attacks on blacks and Atticus. Aunt Alexandra thanks her by giving, “Miss Maudie a look of pure gratitude” (Lee 312). When Aunt Alexandra goes out to hear Atticus’ news about Tom, Miss Maudie follows and helps her get herself together again. Both women are grieved to hear what happened, but that was not the time to show it.
Carefreeness, compassion, and empathy are presented in the form of Miss Maudie Atkinson in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. She was the best character that Harper Lee presented in this novel and she presented many morals that often seem absent from the world. Her actions helped shape the Finch children and taught them as she continued with her wonderfully simple

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