Harper Lee introduces Miss Maudie in some depth, and we see this woman through Scout's eyes. Scout and the other children trust this older woman because she has never betrayed their confidence. She stands as an older adult to whom the children can talk, and for Scout this places her in the same league with her father, Atticus. Miss Maudie is indeed from the same element in the community as Atticus, the more intelligent and tolerant group in town. The woman is said to hate her house but to love everything that grows from the ground except nut grass. Atticus does not like the children to play certain games, especially games that make fun of Boo Radley, but Miss Maudie lets the children play in her yard so long as certain rules are observed. At the same time, she is like Atticus in another respect--she also tolerates the Radleys and does not believe they should be harassed in any way. Miss Stephanie contrasts with Miss Maudie in that she likes to spread gossip about the Radleys, and Miss Maudie objects to this sort of behavior.
In these chapters, the different views of the Radleys conflict and create a sense of uncertainty which affects Scout and the others--they do not really know what to think, but they see the Radleys more and more as mysterious beings and perhaps as dangers. Much of the novel centers on the children's curiosity about the Radley house and its occupants, and a certain lack of tolerance runs through the fears of the children, fears that they acquire first from some of the adults and then from their own lack of real information. When Mr. Radley comes out and fires his gun into the air to scare the children off, it does just that while at the same time seeming to confirm their inner belief that something strange and mysterious has to be hiding inside that house. Boo Radley in particular is the object of their curiosity and their terror. His name--"Boo"--evokes the childish scare that his existence and the m...