In Chapter 1, how does the description of the Radley Place change the tone of the novel? *

The Radley house is old and neglected. Scout describes it as it being,

jutted into a sharp curved beyond our house. Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot. The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it. Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda (porch); oak trees kept the sun away. The remains of a picket (fence) drunkenly guarded the front yard - a 'swept' yard that was never swept - where johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew in abundance." (pg 8)

This adds a gothic scary feeling to the house and the children's fascination with it.