To Kill a MockingbirdBy Harper Lee

Author• Harper Lee

– Born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama

– Daughter of a lawyer– Studied law at the

University of Alabama– Left school to move to

NY to pursue a career as a writer

More on Lee

• Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961

• Didn’t release another novel until earlier this year (TKAM was published in 1960)

SETTING OF THE NOVEL

• Southern United States

• 1930’s– Great Depression

– Prejudice and legal segregation

– Ignorance

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.”

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

Racial separation (segregation)

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

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

Prejudice in the novel

Race

Gender

Handicaps

Rich/Poor

Age

Religion

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 a white girl; he is defended at trial by Atticus

More on Characters• Jean Louise Finch- known as Scout; the narrator

of the novel; tomboyish and very bright• Jeremy Finch- known as Jem; Scout’s older

brother• Calpurnia- the Finch’s black housekeeper; has

helped to raise the children since the death of their mother

• Charles Baker Harris- known as Dill; Scout and Jem’s “summer friend”

Even MORE on characters

• Miss Maudie Atkinson- favorite neighbor of the Finches; speaks to the children as equals

• Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose- mean neighbor of the Finches; often harasses the children

• Walter Cunningham (Jr. & Sr.)- the poor but noble family who “never took anything they couldn’t pay back”

• Heck Tate- the town sheriff

• Arthur Radley- referred to as “Boo”; the reclusive neighbor that both fascinates and frightens the children

A few more characters…

• Bob Ewell- head of the Ewell family; drunk, unemployed, full of hate & anger

• Mayella Ewell- eldest daughter of the Ewell’s; responsible for the care of her 7 siblings; accuses Tom Robinson of rape

• Judge John Taylor- presiding judge in the rape case; sympathetic toward Tom Robinson

• Dolphus Raymond-local man from a good white family; prefers to live w/ the blacks; lets people think he’s a drunk

Point of View

• First person– Story is told by Scout, a 6-9 -year-old girl

– Scout represents the author, Harper Lee, as a little girl although the story is not strictly autobiographical

Symbolism• The mockingbird is a

symbol of innocence in the novel

• Miss Maudie tells the children “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” because they never do harm

THEMES

• Prejudice and Tolerance

• Guilt and Innocence

• Justice

• Knowledge and Ignorance

• Courage and Cowardice

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