A Cold February Morning

[MsElliott]

What cold February morning is the narrator referring to in the following passage and why is that time relevant to this court scene? Include a key quote from that morning in your answer.

Chapter 21:

"The feeling grew until the atmosphere in the courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning, when the mockingbirds were still, and the carpenters had stopped hammering on Miss Maudie's new house, and every wood door in the neighbourhood was shut as tight as the doors of the Radley Place. A deserted, waiting, empty street, and the courtroom was packed with people. A steaming summer night was no different from a winter morning."

[lindadate]

The narrator is referring to the morning that Atticus shot the rabid dog. This is relevant because at that time, no one but Atticus was trusted with such an important job, but in the courtroom no one trusts Atticus to accept that he is right about Tom Robinson. On the February moring Scout says that "Nothing is more deadly than a deserted, waiting street" and then she compares this morning to the atmosphere in the courtroom "The feeling in the courtroom grew until the atmosphere in the courtroom was exactly the same as a cold February morning...a deserted, waiting, empty street."