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Discover the background and historical context of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, including information about the author, setting, and social issues addressed in the novel.
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To Kill a Mockingbird Background Notes
Harper Lee • Born April 28, 1926 • Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama during the Great Depression. • She was a descendent of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Harper Lee • Her father, Amasa C. Lee, was a lawyer and the model for Atticus Finch, a main character in the book. • Her mother was Francis (Finch) Lee.
Harper Lee • Lee attended three colleges. • Huntington College • Oxford University in England--exchange student. • University of Alabama • Lee studied law, but dropped out 6 months before graduation.
Harper Lee • Lee moved to New York City in 1950 to write. • TKAM was her first novel. It was adapted from a short story and it went through a number of revisions. • TKAM--published in 1960 just in time for the Civil Rights movement.
Harper Lee • TKAM won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960.
TKAM--Historical • Setting is the fictitious Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. • Maycomb is a farming community. Farmers lost their lands because they couldn’t pay their bills.
TKAM--Historical • Professionals like Atticus Finch depended on the farmers for business but the farmers couldn’t pay. Often they would pay in goods. • Stock Market crashed in 1929. • Banks stopped loaning money.
TKAM--Historical • Businesses cut back on production. Millions of people lost their jobs. • In 1933, about 13 million people were out of work and more than 750,000 farmers lost their lands. • In 1932, FDR defeated incumbent President Hoover.
TKAM--Historical • Roosevelt started his “New Deal” and promoted programs like: • Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) • Works Progress Administration (WPA) • Farm Credit Administration (FCA) • Workers earned $94.50 a month.
TKAM--Historical • Roosevelt’s “New Deal” marked a turning point in American history with the government taking a strong and active role in the nation’s economic affairs.
TKAM--Social Context • 1863--Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves. The South had lost the Civil War and it wasn’t until a hundred years later that equal rights were obtained for the nation’s blacks.
TKAM--Social Context • During the time of the novel (1930’s) blacks were not slaves, but considered second class citizens. • There was segregation of whites & blacks and blacks were relegated to perform menial jobs, often field hands or housemaids and cooks.
TKAM--Social Context • In the South, a white man’s (or woman’s) word was never questioned.
TKAM--Themes • Novel of Maturation--the theme of striving to reach adulthood. Both Jem and Scout through the time of the novel (3 years) encounter events that challenge their perception of the world and help them grow. This story is allegorical in nature.
TKAM--Themes • Prejudice: • Racial--Portrayed in the trial between Tom Robinson (black) and Mayella Ewell (white). Tom is accused of raping Mayella. • Social--Mayella and her family are considered “poor white trash.”
TKAM--Themes • Social--We see the social structure of the Southern society • Top--Finches • Middle--Cunninghams--poor, but respectable. • Low--Ewells
TKAM--Themes • Justice--Lee wrote the novel from the eyes of a child (Scout). Justice is simple in childlike terms. There is only right and wrong. Adults can confuse this idea with the complexities of the situation.
