To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

1. To Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee

2. Harper Lee • Born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama • Youngest of four children • 1957 – submitted manuscript for her novel; was urged to rewrite it • Spent over two years reworking it • 1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird (her only novel) published

3. Setting • Maycomb, Alabama • 1930’s—The Great Depression

4. Main Characters • Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – six-year-old narrator of story • Jem (Jeremy Finch) – her older brother • Atticus Finch – Jem and Scout’s father, a prominent lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman • Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse who lives next door • Charles Baker (Dill) Harris – Jem and Scout’s friend who comes to visit his aunt in Maycomb each summer • Tom Robinson – a respectable black man accused of raping a white woman • Calpurnia – the Finches’ black cook

5. Autobiographical? • Maycomb, AL is based on Monroeville, AL where Lee grew up • Finch was Lee’s mother’s maiden name—it’s the last name of the main character, Scout • Lee’s father was a lawyer—so is the main character’s father, Atticus Finch • Lee would have been about the same age as Scout when the Scottsboro Trials took place—similar to the trial in the book • One of Lee’s childhood friend’s was Truman Capote, author of In Cold Blood—the character of Dill is based on him

6. The Scottsboro Trial • On March 25, 1931, a fight broke out between two groups of boys, one white, one black, on a train heading from Tennessee to Alabama • When the train arrived, nine blacks were arrested and held for trial for allegedly raping two white women • The trail began on April 6, 1931 and lasted 4 days • Despite conflicting stories and a very weak case against the boys, they were found guilty and sentenced to death • The case went through a lengthy appeals process, but most of the accused remained in jail for a decade • It was the word of two white women against the word of the black men, and at the time, that was just part of the problem

7. Jim Crow laws • Enacted in 1877 • Brought about the segregation of whites and blacks in all aspects of life: • Transportation • Cemeteries • Schools • Parks • Theaters • Restaurants

8. Social Classes in the South • “Old Family”—upper class; proud of their ancestry; try to preserve the pre-Civil War values of elegant Southern society • “Poverty”—hard-working whites, often farmers, who had to struggle to make ends meet • “Blacks”—worked mainly as servants or farm laborers; often subjected to deprivation and humiliation • Racial prejudice was very evident—this can be seen throughout the novel

9. "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." ~Miss Maudie Atkinson (90)