Miss Maudie Character Analysis Essay

Scout Finch matures by the means of seeing the perspectives of her lower class friend, Walter Cunningham and her neighbor, Miss Maudie. Walter Cunningham is a classmate of Scout whom she invites home to dinner after fighting with him. He is poor but still has self respect, and he refuses to take money from people without being able to pay them back. At the dinner, they serve roast and vegetables, which Walter has never eaten before, so he pours syrup on it. Scout is confused that “he's gone drowned his dinner in syrup”(pg 32). The maid, Calpurnia scolds scout for making Walter feel ashamed and furiously tells her, “That boy’s yo’ comp’ny and if he wants to eat up the table cloth you let him, you hear?”(pg 32). After getting scolded by Calpurnia, Scout realizes that Walter must already feel out of place and recognizes his perspective by seeing the way that he lives.
Similarly, Scout sees the perpective of her kind neighbor and trusted friend, Miss Maudie, and she is able to see her outlook on life which helps her create her own and become mature. During the first snow in Maycomb since 1895, Miss Maudie's house suddenly catches fire and burns to the ground. Scout thinks that the event is extremely tragic and assumes miss Maudie must think the same way but when scout sympathizes towards her, she surprises her by saying, “Grieving, child? Why, I hated that old cow barn. Thought of settin’ fire to it a hundred times myself”(pg 97). Scout is surprised by this because she would have been devastated if her own house burnt down but she is able to see that Miss Maudie may have been a little sad, but she chooses to see it not as a bad thing but a good