What are some examples of setting being described in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

Harper Lee vividly describes setting in To Kill a Mockingbird to establish mood. Multiple examples can be seen throughout. The first occurs in the opening chapter. Within in the first few pages of the book, Lee has Scout the narrator describe the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, as a "tired old town." She further describes it as a very agrarian town. Since not all of the roads are paved, when it rains, the "streets...

Harper Lee vividly describes setting in To Kill a Mockingbird to establish mood. Multiple examples can be seen throughout. The first occurs in the opening chapter.

Within in the first few pages of the book, Lee has Scout the narrator describe the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, as a "tired old town." She further describes it as a very agrarian town. Since not all of the roads are paved, when it rains, the "streets turned to red slop." In addition, as an agrarian town that is not as well kept up as a metropolis, grass grows in the cracks of the sidewalks and the "courthouse sag[s] in the [town] square."

After describing what Maycomb looks like in general, she proceeds to describe the time period and the people of Maycomb, which are also factors of the setting. We know the story unfolds during the Great Depression due to Scout's reference to "Hoover carts," which are horse-drawn carts that the poor can actually afford as opposed to the automobiles of the rich. We also know that the people of Maycomb adhere to very strict social customs. For example, men wear "stiff collars" and "ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum." In addition, due to the Great Depression, Scout expresses that it seemed that people "moved slowly" in those days because "there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside of the boundaries of Maycomb County."

Scout's multitude of descriptions about the setting leaves the reader with many impressions about what the people of Maycomb are like as a whole, which helps establish the main mood for the entire book.

Due to Scout's descriptions, we know that the town of Maycomb is a bit rugged and home to some rugged people. But these rugged people are also rather calm and laid back while also being rigid in upholding what they view as their principles. The calmness/comfort coupled with the ruggedness and strictness of Maycomb's people helps identify the generally conflicting mood that dominates the book. Scout's descriptions paint a generally serene atmosphere and mood while also incorporating a contradictory rough and hostile mood. Scout's descriptions of the setting position the reader for a conflicting and emotional story about townspeople who are generally decent but are stuck in their racist, bigoted, hypocritical ways.