Harper Lee prepares her audience for the impending trial in chapter 16 of her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To do this, she utilises descriptions of the courthouse, its regular attendees and its visitors.
Firstly, Harper Lee’s character Miss Maudie labells the attending ‘folks’ as like a ‘Roman carnival’. She also calls the trial morbid, implying that it is common knowledge within Maycomb that Tom Robinson will be found guilty. This shows that those hoping to be in attendance are there to watch Tom Robinson have his life taken from him, portraying them as barbaric, and similar to the people of the Roman Empire, who took pleasure in watching the deaths of gladiators.
Then, the author goes on to contrast the description of the white and black visitors, to create a more vivid picture of the inequality in Maycomb. Scout describes the ‘scattered bits of newspaper, cellophane, and wrapping paper’ left by the black community, but describes the white men she comes across as ‘white-shirted, khaki-trousered, suspendered old men who had spent their lives doing nothing.’ This reinforces that the fact that Maycomb’s white inhabitants value themselves above their black counterparts, as their ideology promotes white supremacy.
Furthermore, Harper Lee goes on to describe Judge John Taylor and the inside of the courthouse, moving further towards the court in description, as the trial draws nearer in chronology.
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