Introduction to To Kill A Mockingbird

By: Nelle Harper Lee

About Nelle Harper Lee Born: April 28, 1926 Birthplace:

Monroeville, Alabama Youngest of four

children Her father was a

lawyer and newspaper editor

Nelle Harper Lee was a tomboy as a child

Harper Lee Continued… Attended and graduated from Monroe County

High School Studied law at the University of Alabama Spent a year at Oxford University Did not pursue a legal career—moved to New

York where she worked for an airline and spent the remainder of her time writing Mockingbird.

1960 To Kill A Mockingbird emerged

Nelle Harper Lee Childhood friend of writer

Truman Capote Always took an interest in

literature and writing To Kill a Mockingbird is the

only novel Lee ever wrote (1960)

November 5, 2007—Presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom By George W. Bush

Rarely grants requests for public appearances, interviews, or book signings

First time is a charm Won the heralded

Pulitzer Prize in 1961 In 1999 the novel was

voted “Best Novel of the Century” by the Library Journal

Remains a bestseller with 30 million copies in print

A Southern Gothic Novel Setting: exclusively in the American South Common Themes: deeply flawed, disturbing or

disoriented characters; decayed or derelict settings; grotesque situations; and other sinister events relating to or coming from poverty, alienation, racism, crime, and violence

Explores social issues and reveals the cultural character of the American South

Mockingbird?"Mockingbirds don't do

one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Setting Maycomb, Alabama

during the depression (1930s)

Thought to represent Harper Lee’s small hometown of Monroeville, AL

Setting Continued…

What was going on? The South was in racial turmoil.

Civil Rights Not only was the South dealing with the effects of

The Great Depression, they were also DEEPLY involved in the Civil Rights Movement

The United States was in financial turmoil. The effects of The Great Depression were felt

world-wide – not just in the South. Novel’s setting: 1930’s Publication: 1960

Main Characters Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – six-year-old narrator of

story

Jem (Jeremy Finch) – her older brother

Atticus Finch – Jem and Scout’s father, a prominent lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman

Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse who lives next door; thought of as a “freak”

Main Characters, cont. Charles Baker (Dill) Harris – Jem and Scout’s friend who

comes to visit his aunt in Maycomb each summer

Tom Robinson – a respectable black man accused of raping a white woman

Calpurnia – the Finches’ black cook

Bob Ewell-drunken, unemployed, and comes from a poor family; represents the dark side of the south by symbolizing racial hatred

Mayella Ewell-Bob’s daughter; lonely and unhappy; accuses a black man of raping her

Themes Good vs. Evil Loss of Innocence Prejudice Understanding Educated vs. Uneducated Religion A Time for Courage

Themes Each theme is characterized by human

flaws, and the only way to overcome the flaw is to act just, according to the laws of a peaceful society.

ConflictsMan vs. Man

Bob Ewell vs. Tom Robinson

Ewell’s vs. Atticus Finch

Man vs. SocietyBoo Radley vs. Society

Tom Robinson vs. Society

Social Class in the NovelWealthy

Country Folk

"White Trash"

BlackCommunity

Examples of each social class:

Wealthy - Finches

Country Folk - Cunninghams

“White Trash” – Ewells

Black Community – Tom Robinson

This is probably similar to how class structure existed during the 1930’s in the South. The wealthy, although fewest in number, were most powerful. The blacks, although great in number, were lowest on the class ladder, and thus, had the least privileges.

THE END! HAPPY READING!

Boo Radley’s Home Place

TKAM Play in Monroeville

The Radley’s House, The Finch’s House, and Dill’s Aunt’s house

TKAM Play in Monroeville, cont.