Harper Lee’s Early Life  Born Nelle Harper Lee, 1926  Grew up in Monroeville, AL  Father: Amasa Coleman Lee Lawyer Descendant of Gen. Robert E. Lee  Two siblings  Childhood friend: Truman Capote Author: In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Education and Writing  Attended University of Alabama for law  Left school to pursue writing  Wrote TKM Started as short stories 1957: Submitted them to editors Asked to revise 1959: To Kill a Mockingbird published

To Kill a Mockingbird  Best-selling book  1961: Won Pulitzer Prize  1962: Film released Oscar wins for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor, Gregory Peck

After the book…  Harper Lee appeared to be reclusive  She didn’t publish more novels, but wrote reviews and short articles  Sometimes talks to students  Won Presidential Medal of Freedom, 2007

Theme: Prejudice & Tolerance  How people feel about and respond to differences in others Racism Rich versus poor People who are “different” Sexism

Theme: Guilt and Innocence  Guilt Feeling badly about your role in a situation Assuming someone is guilty because of their identity  Innocence Trying to prove innocence Innocence of children

Theme: Knowledge & Ignorance  Knowledge Wise characters sharing advice Unlikely characters with a unique view of the world  Ignorance Lack of awareness of others’ needs Assuming one way is the only way because “that’s the way it is”

Theme: Courage & Cowardice  Courage Taking risks Doing what is right, not what is popular Facing fear  Cowardice Ignoring injustice due to fear The “mob mentality”

Theme: Loss of Innocence  Young characters unaware of “evils” in the world Walk into bad situations Coerced into bad situations Witness the faults of others that they trust

Historical Context  Setting: Alabama, 1930s  Great Depression  Slavery  Jim Crow  Lynch Mobs  Scottsboro Trials  Civil Rights  Banned Books

Great Depression  1929: Stock Market crashes  25% of Americans looking for jobs can’t find them  13 million lose their jobs  Banks close due to runs  50% of Americans live below subsistence level

Great Depression

Slavery in the South  1560s, black slaves brought to Spanish Florida  1607, English colonists in Virginia start to import slaves  South becomes agriculturally based, resulting in widespread use of slave labor  Slavery abolished 1865

Jim Crow Laws  “Separate but equal” Schools Movie theatres Treatment at stores Parks Water fountains  Banning of interracial marriages  Restrictions on voting

Jim Crow Laws  More examples of segregation

Lynch Mobs  Many Black Americans were not protected by the legal system No trial for many If there was a trial, juries were all White  Some were taken by mobs and lynched  Some lynchings were public

Scottsboro Boys Trial  1931: Nine teenaged, Black boys on a train are accused of rape  Brought to trial Flimsy evidence All-white jury 8/9 sentenced to death Supreme Court gets involved Four released, others serve long terms

Civil Rights Movement  Americans seeking civil rights regardless of race  1954: Brown v. Board of Education  Civil Rights Act of 1964  Civil Rights Act of 1968

TKM’s Controversy  Inappropriate for high school? Racial epithets Profanity Discussion of rape  Too soft on racism?  Did Harper Lee really write the book?