Jordan Hartley

12-13-2016
English Period 5
Mrs. Spanier
Prejudice: preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience
People should not be judged on how they look, dress, or speak. Its not just today
that this happens, back in the 1800s this also happened. In the book To Kill a
Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Miss Maudie Atkinson is one of the few characters who are
not prejudice. Miss Maudie is generous, good-natured, and knowledgeable. She uses
these character traits to try and help her fellow townspeople out.
Miss Maudie is generous in many ways. One way she is generous is she gives
Jem, Scout, and Dill cake. She even lets them play in her yard. Our tacit treaty with
Miss Maudie was that we could play on her lawn, eat her scuppernongs if we didnt
jump on the arbor, and explore her vast back lot, terms so generous we seldom spoke
to her, so careful were we to preserve the delicate balance of our relationship, but Jem
and Dill drove me closer to her with their behavior (Lee, 56). As Scout says in this
quote Miss Maudie is generous. She is generous because she is the only neighbor on
the street that will let Jem, Scout, and Dill use her yard to play. There is one caveat
though, they can not ruin her flowers. Miss Maudie is generous and always kind to
everyone she encounters.
Good nature is not just found outside, it can be found in a person. For example
someone that is good-natured would be, Miss Maudie Atkinson. One example of how
Miss Maudie is good natured is she explains to Scout why it is a sin to kill a
mockingbird. Another way she is good-natured is she worships God by being in nature
and through her flowers, that is why she does not want Jem, Scout, and Dill to mess

them up as they play. Miss Maudie also goes into more depth than Atticus does on why
it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, for Scout and her little mind. That was the only time
[Scout] ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie
about it. Your fathers right, she said. Mockingbirds dont do one thing but make music
for us to enjoy. They dont eat up peoples gardens, dont nest in corncribs, they dont do
one thing but sing their hearts out for us. Thats why its a sin to kill a mockingbird (Lee,
119). Miss Maudie also is good-natured, because she believes it is morbid to go to the
trial and watch a poor man on trial for his life. You going to court this morning? asked
Jem. [Dill and Scout] had strolled over. I am not, [Miss Maudie] said. I have no
business with the court this morning. Arent you goin down to watch? asked Dill. I am
not. tis morbid, watching a poor devil on trial for his life. Look at all those folks, its like
a Roman carnival (Lee, 213). Miss Maudie is good-natured and does what she
believes is right even if no one else is doing it.
Miss Maudie is most likely one of the most knowledgeable people in the town,
this is probably because she is one of the oldest people in the neighborhood. Miss
Maudie knows many things about the town of Maycomb. She also knows many things
about Atticus. For example, she knows that Atticus lets Jem and Scout win in chess,
she also knows that Atticus was the deadest shot in Maycomb. Atticus is not the only
person that Miss Maudie has information on, she knows interesting and fun facts about
Boo (Arthur) Radley. Miss Maudie, [Scout] said one evening, do you think Boo
Radleys still alive? His names Arthur and hes still alive, she said that is a sad
house. I remember Arthur Radley when he was a boy. He always spoke nicely to me, no
matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how. You reckon hes

crazy? Miss Maudie shook her head. If hes not he should be by now. The things that
happen to people we never really know. What happens behind closed doors, what
secrets--- (Lee, 57-61). Miss Maudie knows that Arthur is not a bad person, because
she knew him when they both were younger. Although people say Arthur is mean and
eats cats he catches, these are all just rumors. As Atticus says, you can not judge a
person until you walk in their shoes. Miss Maudie is knowledgeable, and does not let
other people change how she looks and thinks about people, and how she goes on with
her life.
Miss Maudie is more than just knowledgeable, good-natured, and generous,
these are only a few of her characteristics. Miss Maudie is loved around the town of
Maycomb because of these characteristics. She has many friends because of how nice
she is to everyone. These friends are not just adults, they are children also. She has
probably grown the closest to Scout Finch in this book. As the book, To Kill a
Mockingbird went on we found out that the town of Maycomb is prejudice unlike Miss
Maudie, she tries to set a good example.