In the passage, Lee is describing what the town is like and he says that the town is old and tired. He shows this by saying that the ‘courthouse sagged on the square.’ The verb ‘sagged’ suggests the lack of strength in the courthouse and almost gives the impression that it is almost sinking from the weight. ‘Sagged’ also reminds the readers of old people and how they often can’t stand upright, this again reinforces the fact that Maycomb is old and tired. Lee also gets across the point that Maycomb is tired and lifeless when he states that ‘stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning.’ The word ‘wilted’ if often used to describe flowers which have no life in it and this gives the impression that the men work really hard and how tired and lifeless they are afterwards. ‘Wilted’ also suggests that the men are almost drooping because they are so tired and they don’t have the strength to carry themselves.
Lee describes Maycomb as slightly pessimistic as when it was hot in Maycomb, the dog would have ‘suffered.’ This implies that even though they could make the most out of the good weather, they are considering it as some sort of torture or inconvenience to them. They could have done lots of activities out in the sun however they just carry on with their daily life at a slow pace, it almost seems that they only know how to walk leisurely and they don’t know how to have fun.
In the passage, Lee says that they ‘ambled across the square,’ this is particularly effective on giving the readers a clear impression on what Maycomb is like because the verb ‘ambled’ is when someone moves at a slow or relaxed place. This instantly creates a clear image of the overall image of Maycomb as there is nowhere exciting to go to or see in which a person could be in a rush to go to. Later in the passage, Lee also describes the movement of the people as ‘shuffling’ which suggests that they have no energy to lift their