By Harper Lee

Harper Lee• Born April 28th, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama

• To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee’s only published novel) was published in 1960

• Youngest of four children

• Won a Pulitzer Prize in 1961, Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 (Highest civilian award in U.S.)

•Over 30 million copies, 40 different languages, 80 weeks on the best seller list

POINT OF VIEW

• 1st Person• Story told by Scout

•Bildungsroman

•Harper Lee is a woman and Scout represents her as a child; although the story is not strictly autobiographical

SETTING

Maycomb, Alabama

• 1930’s

• Great Depression • Prejudice and legal segregation

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

• Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse who lives next door

• 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

• Calpurnia – the Finches’ black cook

Social class in the Novel

•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 Black Community, although great in number, were lowest on the class ladder, and thus, had the least privileges

Examples of each social class:

Wealthy – Finches

Country Folk –

Cunninghams

“White Trash” – Ewells

Black Community – Tom

Robinson

1930’s – Great DepressionBegan when the stock market

crashed in October 1929Businesses 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 land.”

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

to change.

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 that 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

Themes &

Motifs

Themes &

Motifs

Brave Valor Boldness Daring Gallantry GUTS Intrepid Fearless valiant boldAdventurous Spiriteddauntless

manlyUnappaled plucky Heroic confident

Dash tancity

Brave Valor Boldness Daring Gallantry GUTS Intrepid Fearless valiant boldAdventurous Spiriteddauntless manlyUnappaled plucky Heroic confident

Dash tancity

What is courage?

OUTSIDER

Empathy and Kindness

CONSTRUCTIVE VS.

DESTRUCTIVE

Racism and

Prejudice