To Kill A Mockingbird Setting Analysis

One of the most important things about the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the setting. The setting sets the stage and lets you know where and when the story takes place. Where and when a story takes place influences the way characters act and things they do. It also helps the person reading the story have good insight into the way the characters behave and events in the story. In To Kill a Mockingbird, the setting is a key element that truly influences the entire story.
Maycomb, Alabama, a sleepy town, is described to the reader by Scout. It is the town where she grew up. It is a tired old town and when it rains the streets turn to red slop and grass grows on the sidewalks. It was always very hot in Maycomb. The downtown area is simple. There is a courthouse and a single-cell jail. Atticus Finch has an office where he practices law. There are also a few small shops and other office buildings but Maycomb is certainly a one horse town.
Maycomb County is in a world of its own. The people of the town are not really concerned about what’s happening around the rest of the world. They are more concerned about what is happening only in their own town. For example, what is Miss Maudie baking or what did Miss Crawford say or what …show more content…
Those that were different from the norm, middle class and white, were treated differently. Anyone who was ahead of the class, Scout, or anyone that was behind, Boo, would be seen as a problem instead of a person. The way people talked to each was another sign of the time period the novel took place. People were almost always referred to with a prefix like Mr or Mrs. If people were not referred to with a prefix, it generally meant that they did not have respect and lacked position. African Americans were talked to differently than whites as well. The mannerisms back then were very different then what many of us use