Photo Analysis

Houses in the Negro section of Eutaw, Alabama

Source: Library of Congress

In this photo, the things that stick out to me the most are the grass, the lack of clouds, the dark shadows, the power lines, and the inhabitants that look to be resting outside of their homes, but out of the sunlight,

I thought this photo somewhat represents my vision of Maycomb because it exudes a lethargic vibe, which is what I was looking for based on this quote from page 6 in the soft cover edition of To Kill A Mockingbird:

"Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town, when I first knew it.

People moved slowly then...A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer."

When I first saw this picture, it reminded me of when I had nothing to do on an afternoon when the power lines were cut, I didn't live in a shack, mind you, but this photo gives me the same feeling as the one I had during those powerless afternoons: sleepiness.

Setting personal feelings aside, I have some connections to make between the text in page 6 (which will be what I base my analysis upon for most of this blog post) and this picture.

"...grass grew on the sidewalks..."

In this picture, there seems to be no sidewalk, but that may be because it has been completely overrun by grass, which in turn may be due to this being the Negro section of the neighborhood. There may also be a "Negro section" in Maycomb--I think this because Calpurnia goes to a colored church (p. 100 soft cover), suggesting that segregation was in effect in Maycomb. And, knowing the conditions in which Negroes were usually put in, it's possible that the grass in this photo was growing before there were inhabitants in the land. It is also possible that it is simply the effect of neglect, although I would not like to believe that since I took such a long time typing my theory up.

I'm kidding.

"Somehow, it was hotter then; a black dog suffered on a summer's day..."

The time of day during which the picture was taken was likely at noon, since the shadows are pronounced and seem to come from overhead. Since noon is usually very hot, more so without clouds to block the sun's light, it makes sense that there are people relaxing under a roof.

But one of the questions that came to my mind when I saw this was, "Why are they outside their houses? Even the person that I can barely make out in the distance seems to be by the door, so they must be doing the same thing. What is it, exactly?" My mind wandered back to my science classes, and I remembered that clear weather usually brings a light breeze. So then these people probably went outside, feeling a breeze blowing through the windows. It should be better than feeling uncomfortably warm in the house.

To explain the presence of power lines, I questioned if power lines existed during 1933. To me, power lines seemed more of a technology discovered in the 1950s. Don't ask me why I think that, since I don't know why myself, either. But I digress.

I did a bit of research and discovered that power lines have existed for practical use since as far back as 1837, meaning it is possible that Maycomb had power lines. It becomes more likely as Atticus goes to answer a ringing phone and returns to say that it was Eula May (p. 86 soft cover). The paragraph after describes Eula's occupation, which was in short Maycomb's leading telephone operator. Since telephones require electricity to run, it is safe to say that Maycomb has power lines.

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I typed a lot, I guess. Hopefully it isn't too confusing.