Table of Contents

• Harper Lee’s early years• The 1930s “Deep South”• Harper Lee’s adult years• Civil Rights movement• Writing To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s Early YearsHarper Lee’s Early Years

• Born Nelle Harper Lee, spring 1926

• Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama

• Youngest of four

children

Monroeville, Alabama MapMonroeville, Alabama Map

ParentsParents

• Father: Amasa Coleman Lee

• Mother: Frances Finch Lee

• Father: practiced law in Monroeville

• Father: editor of The Monroe Journal

Childhood Childhood

• Personality: tomboy, fought,

talked back to teachers

• Bored with school but loved to read

• Childhood friend: Truman Capote

Dill

CapoteCapote

Father and DaughterFather and Daughter

“It was my plan for her to become a member of our law firm – but it just wasn’t meant to be. She went to New York to be a writer.” —Amasa Lee, 1961

PeckPeckSingle click speaker to hear audio clip >>>>

Harper Lee’s Adult YearsHarper Lee’s Adult Years

• Attended Huntingdon College-all female school

• Attended the University of Alabama to study law but she “loathed it”

• Worked for student publications

• Editor of Rammer- Jammer-humor magazine

• Attended Oxford University

•Moved to New York to be a writer

University YearsUniversity Years

1950-19571950-1957

• Worked for Eastern Airlines in NYC

• Pursued writing career full time in NYC

• Wrote and submitted To Kill a Mockingbird

1957-19591957-1959

• To Kill A Mockingbird manuscript rejected

• Research assistant for Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood

The Writer Emerges!The Writer Emerges!

• Published To Kill A Mockingbird

• Received Pulitzer Prize for novel

Novel Goes to the MoviesNovel Goes to the Movies

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• Did not initially attract producers

• Gregory Peck starred as Atticus Finch

• Peck won an Academy Award

Additional WritingAdditional Writing

• Wrote essay “Love…In Other Words” for Vogue

• Wrote essay “Christmas To Me” for McCall’s

• Wrote essay “When Children Discover America” for McCall’s

National Council of ArtsNational Council of Arts

• Named to the National Council on the Arts in 1966

JohnsonJohnson

1930s Statistics1930s Statistics

• Facts about the 1930s:

– Population: 123,188,000 in 48 states

– Life Expectancy: Male, 58:1; Female, 61:6

– Average annual salary: $1,368

– Unemployment rises to 25%

– Car Sales: 2,787,400

– Food Prices: Milk, 14 cents a qt.; Bread, 9 cents a loaf

– Round Steak, 42 cents a pound

– Lynchings: 21

Social OrderSocial Order

• Wealthy and educated

• Working-class whites

• Nonworking-class whites

• African Americans

Jim Crow LawsJim Crow Laws

• Rigid anti-black laws

•Racial caste system

•Perpetuated racism

The Deep South MapThe Deep South Map

African American Row HousesAfrican American Row Houses

Affluent White’s HomesAffluent White’s Homes

• On March 25, 1931, a freight train was stopped in Paint Rock, Alabama

• Nine young African American men arrested

• Two white women accused men of raping them on the train

Scottsboro TrialScottsboro Trial

Civil Rights MovementCivil Rights Movement

• Influenced Harper Lee

Influence on Harper LeeInfluence on Harper Lee

• The Law and Jim Crow

• Civil Rights Movement

• Events in Alabama

Bus boycottMontgomery, AL

Bus boycottMontgomery, AL

Martin Luther King’srise to leadership

Martin Luther King’srise to leadership

Autherine Lucytries to attend

graduate schoolUniv. of Alabama

Autherine Lucytries to attend

graduate schoolUniv. of Alabama

Writing To Kill A MockingbirdWriting To Kill A Mockingbird

• Themes

• Viewpoint

• Characters

• Major Conflicts

ThemesThemes

• Moral nature of man

• Innocence to experience

• How children learn morality

• Social inequality

• Vulnerability of innocent

Point of ViewPoint of View

• First person narrative through Scout

• “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury.”

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CharactersCharacters

Working-Class Whites

Cunningham Family

Working-Class Whites

Cunningham Family

Non-Working Whites

The Ewell Family

Non-Working Whites

The Ewell Family

African Americans

Tom Robinson, Calpurnia and Others

African Americans

Tom Robinson, Calpurnia and Others

Middle-Class Whites – The Finches

Jean Louise “Scout” Finch--The narrator and protagonist of the story

Arthur “Boo” Radley-- A recluse who never sets foot outside his house

Atticus Finch--Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb

Bob Ewell--A drunken, mostly unemployed man

Calpurnia--The Finches’ black cook, Calpurnia is a stern disciplinarian

Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch--Scout’s brother and constant playmate

Charles Baker “Dill” Harris--Jem and Scout’s summer neighbor and friend

Aunt Alexandra-- Atticus’ sister, a strong-willed woman with a fierce devotion to her family. Alexandra is the perfect Southern lady Mayella Ewell--Bob

Ewell’s abused, lonely, unhappy daughter

Tom Robinson--The black field hand accused of rape

Major CharactersMajor Characters

Link Deas--Tom Robinson’s employer

Mr. Dolphus Raymond--A wealthy white man who lives with his black mistress and mulatto children

Mr. Underwood--The publisher of Maycomb’s newspaper

Mr. Walter Cunningham--A poor farmer

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose--An elderly, ill-tempered, racist woman who lives near the Finches

Minor CharactersMinor Characters

Walter Cunningham--Son of Mr. Walter Cunningham and classmate of Scout

Miss Maudie Atkinson--The Finches’ neighbor, a sharp-tongued widow, and an old friend of the family

Harper Lee v. Scout Finch

• She grew up in the 1930s in a rural Southern Alabama town.

• Her father, Amasa Lee, is an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama.

• Her older brother and young neighbor (Truman Capote) are playmates.

• Harper Lee is an avid reader as a child.

• She is six years old when the Scottsboro trials are widely covered in national, state and local newspapers.

• She grew up in the 1930s in a rural Southern Alabama town.

• Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama.

• Her older brother (Jem) and young neighbor (Dill) are playmates.

• Scout reads before she enters school and reads the Mobile Register newspaper in first grade.

• She is eight years old when the trial of Tom Robinson takes place.

ConflictsConflicts

• Person versus society

• Person versus person

• Person versus self

35th Anniversary of Novel35th Anniversary of Novel

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In Conclusion: Harper Lee’s LegacyIn Conclusion: Harper Lee’s Legacy

• To Kill a Mockingbird

• Gives us new appreciation for our childhood experiences

• Shows us how one’s sense of right and wrong is learned

• Allows us to experience destructiveness of hatred in society