Background to Kill a Mockingbird

Mr. PettineEnglish 9

8 September 2015

To Kill a Mockingbird was published

in 1960 and won the Pulitzer Prize

Novel became standard of secondary classrooms (including ours!)

Novel turned into film in 1962, winnning Best Actor (Gregory Peck) and Best Screenplay

To Kill a Mockingbird

Born in 1926 Resident of Monroeville, Alabama. Novel

informed by her childhood Friend of writer Truman Capote, with whom

she collaborated at times Studied at University of Alabama, but did not

graduate Attempted to publish Go Set a Watchman in

1957. Novel was rejected by publishers, but childhood flashback scenes became basis for To Kill a Mockingbrid

Never published another novel, received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007

Go Set a Watchman, originally written in 1957, published to mixed reviews in 2015

Harper Lee

Novel is set in Maycomb County,

Alabama in the 1930s

The novel takes place during the Great Depression

The novel takes place in the Jim Crow South (segregation, racial injustice are key thematic elements of novel)

Setting

Jean Louise Finch – young girl and narrator of story. A

tomboy, she is known by nickname “Scout” Atticus Finch – father of Scout and Jem, city lawyer and

state representative for Maycomb. He will defend Tom Robinson

Jeremy Finch – older brother of Scout Tom Robinson – African American man falsely accused of

rape Calpurnia – Black maid to the Finches, serves as mother

figure to Scout The Ewells – Family that accuses Tom Robinson, known

for low class behavior and low socioeconomic status The Cunninghams – Second family with low

socioeconomic status

Characters

Racial Injustice – The white community of Maycomb

assumes Tom Robinson is guilty and that he does not deserve a fair trial

Economic / Class Issues – the disparity between the very poor, poor, and middle class is highlighted by the Ewells, Cunninghams, Finches, and African American characters

Loss of Innocence – To Kill a Mockingbird is a bildungsroman (coming of age tale). During the novel, Atticus Finch states that it is wrong to kill a mockingbird because they do not do anything but sing beautiful music.

Thematic Elements

African Americans slaves arrive via Spanish in

South America in early 1500s

First twenty slaves arrive at Jamestown in 1620

By late 1700s, over 800,000 slaves of African origin in American colonies

Historical Background

Growth of cotton industry in South leads to

concentration of slaves in American South

Slavery is focal point of social unrest in 19th century. Nat Turner’s Rebellion (1831), anti-slavery movement, and rivalry between free and slave states point towards Civil War

Civil War (1861-65) ends in Northern victory. Emancipation Proclamation declares slaves free

Historical Background

African American citizenship not accepted in

South, seen as Northern humiliation

Rise of KKK first seen during Reconstruction (1865-1877)

Reconstruction fails to fully implement Reconstruction amendments to Constitution. Desire for union and end to hostility cools Northern zeal

Historical Background

Violence in eighteenth/early nineteenth century

includes lynchings, burnings, disenfranchisement of black voters, and institutional segregation

Segregation becomes codified and Plessy v.. Ferguson (1896) upholds “separate but equal” as constitutional

Blacks in South become sharecroppers in large numbers (along with poor whites), large migration of African Americans to North during early 20th century

Historical Background

“Harlem Renaissance” among black

intellectuals and artists in North during 1920s

African Americans fight in WWI an WWII, return to discrimination in South

Events of 40s and early 50s lead to Brown v Board (1954), overturning Plessy, and lead to Civil Rights Movement on 50s-60s

Historical Background

American victory during WWI leads to “return

to normalcy” in 1920a “Conspicuous Consumption” seen in stock

investment, investment in luxury lifestyle and items

General loosening of American morality seen in flaunting of Prohibition, rise of provocative entertainment

1929 Stock Market Crash sparks economic downturn

Great Depression

Economy’s downfall accelerated for over half

decade

Hoover actively tries to staunch Depression, but is unable to control it. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, former Governor of New York, crushes him in 1932 election

Roosevelt begins “New Deal” to staunch Depression

Great Depression

Roosevelt declares “the only thing we have to

fear is fear itself”

Regulation of banking, institution of Social Security, support for labor unions, public housing, and local minimum-wage laws instituted

America does not undergo full recovery until industrialization during World War II

Great Depression

At height of Great Depression, over 25% of

Americans unemployed (compare to just over 10% in large 2008 downturn)

Only 48% of Atlanta citizens “gainfully employed” in 1930 census

Great Depression