How does Harper Lee present the attitudes and values of Maycomb County?

Harper Lee presents Maycomb's attitudes and values through the setting and her characters. For the setting, she describes Maycomb as an "old town" whose courthouse "sagged in the square" (5). Scout also says that the "people moved slowly then" and that there was "nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County (5). These descriptions suggest that tradition has a hold of the people as well as its town. Other descriptions of houses and the way people move help to show that proper etiquette is expected and anything out of the ordinary is frowned upon. For example, the Radley's show the town just how anti-social they are by keeping their shutters and doors closed on Sundays. Scout says the following about the town's behavior as opposed to the Radley's:

". . . closed doors meant illness and cold weather only. Of all days Sunday was the day for formal afternoon visiting: ladies wore corsets, men wore coats, children wore shoes. But to climb the Radley front steps and call, 'He-y,' of a Sunday afternoon was something their neighbors never did" (9).

Sundays are for church in the morning and social calls in the afternoon. The Radleys did neither; so the town left them to their different ways and never tried to change that by stepping foot onto their property.

Another way that Lee presents the attitudes and values of the town are through what people say and do. Some people say one thing and do another and some vice versa. In every town there seems to be people who stand up for what's right, those who cause trouble, and those who simply talk about whatever is going on. All of these types of people exist in Maycomb and they all make up the typical political hierarchy and mindset of the South in the 1930s. For instance, Atticus represents the good higher class (or leaders) of the county who stand up for what is right; Bob Ewell represents the bad lower class who causes trouble; and Miss Stephanie Crawford spreads all the good and bad about everyone.

Finally, the struggle between tradition and justice face off as the trial between Mayella Ewell and Tom Robinson forces the town to also face themselves. Each person in Maycomb seems to prove his or her real character as sides are taken about the trial. Traditionalists rise up against Atticus and call him racist names while the meek and humble turn the other cheek. This keeps the gossips and tea parties employed and it would seem that not too many are affected by the end of it all.

In the end, though, the town has been tried, some steps have been taken towards progress, but discrimination and hypocrisy remain. The attitudes of the majority of the citizens remain true to the traditional social and political hierarchy which segregates people into different classes and races; but there is hope for the future and that change will occur eventually.