‘…then couldn’t shake off the two burning rings.’

This relates to the idea that the act was, in fact, a ‘butterfingered’ proposal from the character. This displays the poet’s view that the emotions of love and pain are intertwined.

In the 13-year-old’s mind, branding the subject of their love with rings on their fingers—albeit the wrong ones—was ensuring that they could never lose his love, which would stand for eternity. He ensured that she was branded, with a symbol of his love forever.

‘I simply want to tell you that there are some men in this world who were born to do our unpleasant jobs for us.’ — Miss Maudie

This shows that Miss Maudie holds the majority of Maycomb’s inhabitants at a lesser moral value than ‘some men’, alluding to those such as Atticus, Heck Tate and Judge Taylor. I believe that this presents Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb’s society as flawed, but one for which Maudie holds great fondness. As Jem slates the morality of the county, Maudie once again interjects, labelling Maycomb’s inhabitants as ‘the safest folks in the world’. This shows that Maudie is willing to defend her county, despite being in full awareness of its flaws.

Also, Lee repeatedly utilises plural personal pronouns such as we and us in Maudie’s speech, displaying that Maudie feels one with her home county. ‘We’re making a step’, claims Maudie as she explains to Jem that Maycomb’s flaws are being overcome by morality, suggesting that Maudie believes that county is advancing as one.

How does Lee use details in the passage to present Miss Maudie’s view of Maycomb?

‘We’re the safest folks in the world,’ claims Miss Maudie, going on to explain that ‘We’re so rarely called on to be Christians, but when we are, we’ve got men like Atticus to go for us.’. This presents Miss Maudie’s view of the county as one of great fondness; she believes that the good people at the core of Maycomb are good enough to do their part for the whole county. By bringing the religion of Christianity into it, Miss Maudie links her original statement to God, showing that she believes that the people of the county are ‘safe’ in the eyes of God, because of men like Judge Taylor and Atticus being prepared to stand up for the oppressed and do the right thing, even when they may be frowned upon or hated.

Harry fallen leaves from Joel North on Vimeo.