To Kill A MOCKINGBIRD

1. To Kill A MOCKINGBIRD Harper Lee

2. PUBLICATION • The book was written by Harper Lee from about 1954-1960, the height of the civil rights movement . • While Lee worked on her novel some of the most significant events of the civil rights era occurred: • Brown vs. The Board of Education made school segregation illegal. But the governor of Arkansas would not enforce the law and called the Nation Guard to stop African American children from attending all-white schools. • In Greensboro NC, one of the most famous sit-ins occurred at a Woolworth’s lunch counter, where black people requested to be served at the same counter as the white people. • Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. • Martin Luther King, Jr. rose as the pre-eminent pacifist civil rights leader. • (The events of the story occurred some 20 years earlier, but the happenings during the time of her writing impacted her work.) • The novel won the Pulitzer Prize. It sold a half million copies on its release; the book continues to be a top seller today; it is a hotly contested book; it is listed as a “banned book” on ALA’s website.

3. PLOT • “TKMB is about three years (approximately 1933-1936) in the childhood of Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, and the coming of age of Scout and her brother Jem, in the house of their father Atticus Finch. It is also about two seemingly unrelated things—the trial of a black man, Tom Robinson, for rape [He was accused of raping a white woman]and the attempts of Jem, Scout, and their friend Dill to make Boo Radley come out of his house. Boo a man, who for his lifetime, is confined to his house, first by his father and later by his uncle for committing a minor offense as a teenager, becomes a catalyst . . . by which the children come to understand . . . Tom Robinson’s trial.” Source: Readings On – To Kill A Mockingbird

4. CHARACTERS • Jean Louise Finch : Nicknamed Scout, she is the narrator of the story; she’s about 5 years old (at the start of the story), and smart and precocious. Early on, she is am “hothead,” which often gets her in trouble. • Jem: Scout’s older brother by about four years. Ess volatile than Scout. Allows his little sister to taga along with him and often explains the world’s vagaries and contradictions to her. • Dill: Fatherless boy one year older than Scout; Friend of Jem and Scout ; Comes to Maycomb each summer to stay with his aunt, because his mom doesn’t want the responsibility of taking care of him. • Atticus Finch: Jem and Scout’s father; a widower; 50 years old; treats his children as equals; is forgiving; has a sense of fairness and justice; has both physical and moral courage. • Boo Radley: Recluse; in his forties; Has been locked inside by his father; is misunderstood; the kids constantly try to make him come out.

5. POINT OF VIEW • The novel switches point of view; sometimes the story is narrated by the naïve, little girl, Scout Finch; sometimes it is narrated by the mature Scout looking back on the story from adulthood. Remember the narrator is not the author. The narrator may speak the author’s views, but the narrator is not the author. • Remember Point of view is the vantage point from which the story is told; since much of this story is narrated through the eyes of a young child, we are not meant to accept everything she says.

6. SETTING • 1933-1936 in the fictional town Maycomb Alabama (The rural South during the Great Depression) • Maycomb is fashioned with historical accuracy– is depicted as being in a transitional period—one that is a “dark ages” for minorities. • The time period spans from the post-civil war days to the early days of civil rights. The transformation from old South to New South did not happen easily or without great human sacrifice and suffering.

7. THEMES • Maturation: When a major character of the work comes to a realization about life by the end of the story. The character is changed or has learned something by the end of the story. • Protest: When the overall message conveyed in the work speaks out against some societal ill.