2. Background Nelle Harper Lee : Born April 28, 1926- (Monroeville, AL) (Maycomb, AL –fictional) Youngest of 3 children Tomboy (preferred overalls to dresses) Truman Capote (Dill) Wrote stories and attended trials in spare time Attended college to become a lawyer, but did not finish Wrote TKAM as a short story then expanded it into a novel TKAM published in 1960 Awarded Pulitzer Prize in 1961 Translated into 10 languages Academy award winning film in 1962 Amasa Coleman Lee father lawyer editor state senator Atticus Finch Francis Finch Lee mother not present in TKAM

3. Historical Background Great Depression—1930s Maycomb is a farm community Stock market crash of 1929 Spending dwindled, factories and stores closed, consumption of farm products declined Height of the Depression (1933) 13 million Americans had no jobs 750,000 farmers had lost their land New Deal—Roosevelt Created gov. agencies which provided jobs FCA created which extended credit to farmers

4. Societal Context African Americans considered “second-class” citizens Segregation Social Hierarchy: Middle Class Whites, African Americans, Poor Whites (white trash) Poor whites hated African Americans for taking their jobs

5. Themes and Topics Bildungsroman—coming of age Prejudice: racial, social, and sexual Education Superstitions Religion Man’s inhumanity to man—It is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing harmful themselves.