Appomattox
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Mr Avery says 'Hasn’t snowed in Maycomb since Appomattox. It’s bad children like you makes the seasons change.' He is refering to the American Civil War and the battle at Appomattox, in Virginia. The Battle of the Appomattox Court House was fought on the morning of 9 April, 1865 between the Confederate States Army before it surrended to the Union Army. It was one of the last battles of the American Civil War.
Harper Lee uses Mr Avery's quote about Appomattox to remind the reader that during the 1930s many American's continued to relate to the Civil War. Mr Avery's quote also relates to earlier in the chapter when he mentioned the Rosetta Stone (see Rosetta Stone). He is again making the children feel guilty by eluding to the fact that their behaviour is as bad as the fighting in the Civil War. Mr Avery obviously has no respect for children, and feels the need to blame everything that is wrong about the world on them. Mr Avery's character is a symbol of Harper Lee's opinion about the treatment of children, race and justice in the mid 1930s.
Harper Lee uses Mr Avery's quote about Appomattox to remind the reader that during the 1930s many American's continued to relate to the Civil War. Mr Avery's quote also relates to earlier in the chapter when he mentioned the Rosetta Stone (see Rosetta Stone). He is again making the children feel guilty by eluding to the fact that their behaviour is as bad as the fighting in the Civil War. Mr Avery obviously has no respect for children, and feels the need to blame everything that is wrong about the world on them. Mr Avery's character is a symbol of Harper Lee's opinion about the treatment of children, race and justice in the mid 1930s.