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Injustice and Compassion: 1930s Southern America

Delve into the Great Depression era in the Southern United States, where racial prejudice and legal segregation thrived. Explore themes of prejudice, gender bias, and social issues through the eyes of a young girl. Discover how characters like Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson navigate a divided community filled with complexities of humanity.

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Injustice and Compassion: 1930s Southern America

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  1. To Kill a Mockingbird By HarperLee

  2. SETTING OF THE NOVEL • Southern United States • 1930’s • Great Depression • Prejudice and legal segregation • Ignorance

  3. 1930’s - Great Depression began when the stock market crashed in October, 1929 • Businesses failed, factories closed • People were out of work • Even people with money suffered because nothing was being produced for sale. • Poor people lost their homes, were forced to “live off the land.”

  4. Racial prejudice was alive & well. Although slavery had ended in 1864, old ideas were slow to change.

  5. Racial separation (segregation)

  6. Gender Bias (Prejudice) • Women were considered “weak” • Women were generally not educated for occupations outside the home • In wealthy families, women were expected to oversee the servants and entertain guests • Men not considered capable of nurturing children

  7. “White trash” • Poor, uneducated white people who lived on “relief “ • lowest social class, even below the poor blacks • prejudiced against black people • felt the need to “put down” blacks in order to elevate themselves

  8. Legal Issues of the 1930’s which impact the story • Women given the vote in 1920 • Juries were MALE and WHITE • “Fair trial” did not include acceptance of a black man’s word against a white man’s

  9. Prejudice in the novel Race Gender Handicaps Rich/Poor Age Religion

  10. Themes: Motifs: • Loss of family member • Learning to compromise • Coping with gossip • Witnessing a divisive community conflict • Defending the vulnerable

  11. Characters • Atticus Finch - an attorney whose wife has died, leaving him to raise their two children: -Jem – 10-year-old boy -Scout – (Jean Louise), 6-year-old girl • Tom Robinson – a black man accused of raping white girl; he is defended at trial by Atticus

  12. Point of View • First person • Story is told by Scout, a 10-year-old girl • Harper Lee is actually a woman; Scout represents the author as a little girl although the story is not strictly autobiographical

  13. Reading the Novel • Setting is all important –be aware of the “where” and “when” as you begin • Point of View – the novel is shaped by the voice of a young girl who sees the story from a position of naïve acceptance • “Goodness vs. Ignorance (Evil)” is an important theme

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