Fourth TKAM Reading Response

The formal definition of devout is devoted to divine worship or service; pious and earnest or sincere. To the ladies of Maycomb "devout" means the lady that gives the most money or talks the most about the things they do to "help".

Maycomb women get together in their church group once a week to have tea and talk about the things they did that week. At one of their meetings, Mrs. Merriweather (the most "devout lady" in Maycomb) was talking about how she wants to help the Mrunas. The Mrunas are a tribe in Africa that, according to Mrs. Merriweather, have no sense of family. She thinks that they live in a wrong way and want to help them become Christian. In reality, the Mrunas are more Christian-like than her.

The ladies of Maycomb are so hypocritical. They talk about "good, but misguided folks" when really that's what they are. They are very insecure about the things they do and to make themselves feel better they need to talk. They need to talk about other people and they need to talk about what good they have done. These ladies call themselves devout ladies, but that's not what they act like at all.

To be a devout Christian, one must do the things in the name of God and for what he/she thinks is right, not for what other people will think. One truly devout person that I know is my Pappou. He goes to church every week, but not because its a social event. He helps out at the Greek festival because he loves it and he knows we need help. No one ever has to ask him to do anything, he just does it. He does it because he knows what's right and he really doesn't care what other people think.