1. To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee

2. Harper Lee Born April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama.
Youngest of four children.
1957 submitted novel; urged to revise.
Worked on novel for 2 years.
1960 To Kill a Mockingbird published
Lee’s only novel
Connected to Truman Capote

3. Setting
Maycomb, Alabama (based on Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama)
1930s
Great Depression
Legal Segregation
Prejudice
Ignorance

4. Point of View First- Person Detached
Novel is told through the eyes of Scout, not as the events are happening, but years later.
Harper Lee is actually a woman; Scout, in many ways, represents the author as a little girl.

5. Characters Scout (Jean Louise) Finch: 6-year-old narrator
Jem (Jeremy) Finch: her older brother
Atticus Finch: father of Scout and Jem; lawyer assigned to defend a black man on a rape charge
Arthur (Boo) Radley: 33-year-old recluse who lives next door
Charles Baker (Dill) Harris: Jem and Scout’s summer friend, whose character is based on author Truman Capote
Tom Robinson: a black man accused of rape
Calpurnia: The Finch’s black cook and housekeeper

6. Social Class of 1930s Maycomb
Decided by comparison, not by dollar-amount
Wealthy: fewest in number; most powerful
Finches
Country Folk: Cunninghams
“White Trash”: Ewells
Black Community: greatest in number
Calpurnia and Robinsons

7. 1930s Depression Brought on, in part, by “Black Friday” of 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 and were forced to “live off the fatta’ the land.”

8. Racial Prejudice in the South

9. Segregation (Racial Separation)

10. Prejudice African-Americans were considered inferior.
Women were considered weak.
Women, generally, were not educated to work outside of the home.
In wealthy families, women were to oversee the servants and entertain guests.
Men not considered capable of nurturing children.

11. Legal Issues of 1930s Women given the vote in 1920
Juries were MALE and WHITE
“FAIR TRIAL” did not include the acceptance of a black man’s word against a white man’s word.

12. Prejudice in the Novel
Race
Gender
Handicaps
Rich/poor
Age
Religion

13. Themes Racism Perspective Tolerance Justice Education Equality
Morality

14. Evidence from the Past