Absolute Morphodite
The Absolute Morphodite is a snowman built by Jem Finch during Maycomb's rare snowfall, constructed from a core of dirt and a surface of snow to create a caricature of their neighbor Mr. Avery, which Atticus Finch forces him to disguise as Miss Maudie Atkinson to avoid libel, and which later melts and crumbles in the heat of Miss Maudie's house fire.
Construction and Design
When the first snow in Maycomb since 1885 fell, Jem, who had never seen snow before, devised an ingenious method to build a snowman despite the meager, slushy accumulation. He directed Scout to haul snow from Miss Maudie Atkinson's yard into a peach basket while he dug earth from behind the woodpile, placing any worms he found to one side. Using five baskets of dirt and two baskets of snow, Jem constructed a torso of packed earth, then procured peachtree switches from the back yard, plaited them, and bent them into an armature to be covered with dirt. He sloshed water over the mud man and added more dirt, then molded a big stomach below the figure's waistline. Jem glanced at Scout, his eyes twinkling, and remarked, "Mr. Avery's sort of shaped like a snowman, ain't he?" He then scooped up snow and began plastering it on, permitting Scout to cover only the back while saving the public parts for himself. Gradually, Mr. Avery turned white. Using bits of wood for eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons, Jem succeeded in making Mr. Avery look cross, and a stick of stovewood completed the picture. Scout declared it lovely, saying it looked "almost like he'd talk to you."
Atticus's Intervention and Disguise
When Atticus came home for dinner, he was surprised to see most of the back yard in the front yard, but he praised Jem's work, saying, "from now on I'll never worry about what'll become of you, son, you'll always have an idea." However, when Atticus squinted at the snowman, he grinned, then laughed, and declared, "Son, I can't tell what you're going to be—an engineer, a lawyer, or a portrait painter. You've perpetrated a near libel here in the front yard. We've got to disguise this fellow." Atticus suggested that Jem hone down his creation's front, swap a broom for the stovewood, and put an apron on him. Jem explained that if he did, the snowman would become muddy and cease to be a snowman. Atticus insisted, "You can't go around making caricatures of the neighbors." Jem protested, "Ain't a characterture. It looks just like him." Atticus countered, "Mr. Avery might not think so." Jem then raced across the street, disappeared into Miss Maudie's back yard, and returned triumphant. He stuck her sunhat on the snowman's head and jammed her hedge-clippers into the crook of his arm. Atticus said that would be fine. Miss Maudie opened her front door, came out on the porch, and called across the street, "Jem Finch, you devil, bring me back my hat, sir!" Atticus told Jem she was just fussing and was really impressed with his accomplishments. Atticus strolled over to Miss Maudie's sidewalk, where they engaged in an arm-waving conversation, the only phrase of which Scout caught was "...erected an absolute morphodite in that yard! Atticus, you'll never raise 'em!"
Destruction in the Fire
During the fire that consumed Miss Maudie's house, Scout watched from across the street as the Absolute Morphodite went black and crumbled in the heat. Miss Maudie's sunhat settled on top of the heap, but Scout could not see her hedge-clippers. The next day, Calpurnia woke Scout and Jem at noon and told them to try to clean up the front yard. They found Miss Maudie's sunhat suspended in a thin layer of ice, like a fly in amber, and had to dig under the dirt for her hedge-clippers. When they returned the items to Miss Maudie, she was in her back yard, gazing at her frozen charred azaleas. Jem said, "We're bringing back your things, Miss Maudie. We're awful sorry." Miss Maudie looked around, and the shadow of her old grin crossed her face. She said, "Always wanted a smaller house, Jem Finch. Gives me more yard. Just think, I'll have more room for my azaleas now!" When Scout asked if she wasn't grieving, Miss Maudie replied, "Grieving, child? Why, I hated that old cow barn. Thought of settin' fire to it a hundred times myself, except they'd lock me up." She then told them she would build a little house and take roomers, and would have the finest yard in Alabama.
Significance
The Absolute Morphodite represents Jem's creative ingenuity and his growing understanding of the social codes that govern Maycomb. His initial impulse to create a recognizable caricature of Mr. Avery is a form of social commentary, but Atticus's insistence on disguising it teaches Jem that even playful mockery of neighbors has consequences. The snowman's transformation from a Mr. Avery caricature into a figure wearing Miss Maudie's sunhat and holding her hedge-clippers—which Miss Maudie herself calls an "absolute morphodite"—becomes a symbol of the fluidity of identity and the community's ability to absorb and neutralize difference. Its destruction in the fire that also destroys Miss Maudie's house marks the end of the winter's unusual events and the beginning of the spring that will bring Tom Robinson's trial.
