In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird there are plenty of quotes to show small town life and social relationships. I live in a condo in the city and almost nobody knows their neighbor around here. In the novel, however, relationships with neighbors are highlighted numerous times. Miss Maudie, for instance, made friends with Scout, Dill, and Jem and “every time she baked she made a big cake and three little ones, and she would call across the street: 'Jem Finch, Scout Finch, Charles Baker Harris, come here'” (Lee). This is a great example of both small town life and social relationships. In large cities people may not know the person who lives next to them, but in small towns everybody gets to know everybody, particularly their neighbors.
Another great example was when Atticus did some work for Mr. Cunningham, and Atticus told him to let the ability to pay be the least of his worries. He knew he would get paid, just not with money. In fact, Scout notes that
“One morning Jem and I found a load of stovewood in the back yard. Later, a sack of hickory nuts appeared on the back steps. With Christmas came a crate of smilax and holly. That spring when we found a crokersack full of turnip greens, Atticus said Mr. Cunningham had more than paid him” (Lee).
I can’t imagine anywhere but a small town where a lawyer would work before getting paid, let alone accept goods rather than money for his services. In large cities, the barter system died off long ago, but in rural areas the practice still exists.
Another great example of small town life and social relationships is Boo Radley. I used to visit family in the Appalachian Mountains as a child; the town had a population of about 250 people. Nevertheless, urban legends abounded about the residents of an old, worn-down house. The owners worked odd hours, and were almost never home at night. Of course, the children in the town made up stories about them being vampires, witches, and devil worshippers. It didn’t help that they were the only family that didn’t attend the only church in town, because the adults speculated as to their faith in front of children. The same thing happens in To Kill a Mockingbird, because “The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb. They did not go to church, Maycomb’s principal recreation” (Lee). Keeping to themselves and not attending church in a small town means they are neglecting small-town societal norms. Church in a small town is a community-building and social event. Gossip and rumors are certain to follow anybody who breaks the unwritten laws of a small town. Jem notes that
“Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee).
Of course, everything Jem said is reminiscent of my experience with small-town America. The adults spoke badly about the family because they didn’t attend church, and the children made up rumors about them being evil. It is in the same manner that Jem ascribes dining on squirrels and cats to Boo, without real evidence to back up his assertions. This is a combination of children from a small town inventing rumors to make their town seem more interesting, with gossip from adults adding to the fallacies. In the city, most children do not even realize the condition of houses, or whether or not they are occupied. There is enough going on and enough to do that a Boo Radley situation would not particularly interest them.
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