ASSIGNMENT 1 – A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE SETTLEMENTS FROM THE BOOK,

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Maycomb county might be the most unsophisticated town in the state of Alabama. Especially when
one talks about the lives which are not only deprived of the clattering of cities, but the most
intriguing part of a typical summer week would be the Sunday church. But was this true for the
whole settlement of Maycomb, or just a myopic coverage of a white neighbourhood?

Although set up in this hypothetical southern town, “To Kill A Mockingbird” creates a detailed
imagery of the settlement, though drastically different but having the same essence at the core.
Harper Lee portrays different areas of neighbourhood, schools, town square, dump yard and the
black settlements, through the experiences of our 7-year-old protagonist, Jean Louise Finch or
“scout”.

It’s quite interesting to think how different the portrayal be if this was not 1933, which was the
infamous period of the great depression. This period of great depression, which began in the united
states affected people’s choices which in turn affected the overall settlement. Although Atticus
Finch, scout’s father, was a successful lawyer, descriptions of their simple lives, food, clothing
suggest that they were surviving on basic means.

On one hand Maycomb had the poor and the non-poor (no rich), on another it had blacks and
whites. If one might recall the “Jim Crow Era” which describes the time from the late 19th century
until the mid-1960s when black people in the United States could no longer be held in slavery, but
where laws limited the social, political, and economic possibilities available to black citizens. Overall
the community had four sections of non-poor whites, poor whites, non-poor blacks and poor blacks.
The town was divided both racially and economically.

1. The Neighbourhood
Scout describes her whole town as old, tired and suffocating. And rightly said so given how
the dignity of every household depends on its ancestry. However, the streets are open, and
sidewalks are wide. The front yards of houses are described as open and large enough to
plant multiple oak trees.
Backyards were utilized for growing household consumables while the wooden house rest in
the middle. Not only that but tree houses are often built on them and the front yard is the
preferred place for children to amaze themselves in foolery. All these are enveloped by
wooden fences which were more of a partition acting rather than protective unlike what we
see today. One reason for such ease of access might be the familiarity among neighbours.
Everyone knew about everybody.

Apart from the street, the school of Maycomb county was placed, by a dear pasture ground.
Instead of the town’s square, where the major buildings resided, the school was in the
central part of town, near the residential area. One can assume it was preferred that the
children don’t have to travel much distance and stay away from the “adult” town square
with all its jails, police stations and courthouses.

2. The Black Settlement

On the opposite corner of Maycomb county, as far as one can be from the town’s square,
are the black settlements. The first thing one might see on coming towards this part of the
town is the “black” church. The placement intrigues me. Since it was built by the blacks for
 the blacks, from their hard-earned post slavery money, it seemed as their most valued
possession. It was placed as a crown, a thing to be displayed and a reason of pride. They
don’t want to be known for the underbuilt shelters that lie deep inside the black settlement.
They want the holy church to represent them and their believes. It also seemed that the
farther you go from the town square (the most developed and holiest part of Maycomb) the
filthier you become.

The settlement is made up of cabins, which might have as well have been made from brick
hard clay, just like the church. However, there is a difference between cabins and living
quarters. Tom Robinson a poor black man lived “in that settlement beyond the town dump”
indicating that there might be more than one part of the black settlement itself. What is to
be observed that the black settlement was a close neighbour to the dump yard. Often there
was no specific boundary.

3. The Dump Yard

Almost 5 yards from the “negro settlement” was the dump yard, also far from the main
town. No one ever goes there except to throw away the old Christmas trees after new year.
On one hand the central residential area of Maycomb county has reach to basic amenities,
the dump was deprived of water, food and insulation.
The cabins there dilapidated with roofs shingled with tin cans. The front yard looked like a
playground of an “insane child”. Unlike the central town, the fences built here were of “tree
limbs, broomsticks, shovels held by a piece of barbed wire”. One can see the clear contrast
between the central neighbourhood and the dump yard.

A very surprising fact is that the dump yard did something that the main town couldn’t.
Poverty united races. The dump yard housed poorest of the poor. Both blacks and whites. At
one point a cabin belonged to a black person, at another the same cabin belonged to a
white.

4. Town square
The town square was the most important part of Maycomb County. It is here where every, if
any, form of city development or activity happened. It comprised of the town’s courthouse,
jails, lawyer offices, café, hardware stores, tribune’s office and a possible park. The location
of the square was on opposite end than the “unworthy” undeveloped part of town. Even
though Atticus Finch, father of protagonist had his office in the town square, Scout was
rarely allowed here. Usually when a black person came here it was because they were being
jailed.
One important part about the square was that it served as an entry and exit points to the
town. Just like the church was for black community, the town square was the crown of
Maycomb itself.

In conclusion Maycomb county was a very small town with large variety of spaces and complex
nature of community and economy. We saw how difference in ethnicity or racism results in
difference in choices of settlements and when clubbed with economy, how various permutations of
settlements (with at times opposite of the original) are developed.

-Viplove Singh B.Arch III Yr (R)