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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

By Harper Lee

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INTRODUCTION

• This story is about Tom Robinson, who was a black man was being accused of raping Mayella Ewell, which she is a white woman.

• The book contains a lot of racism, prejudices and integrity.

• This book was published in 1960.

• The setting of this story takes place in the Deep South (Alabama) during the 1930’s when slavery was very common.

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INTRODUCTION (CON’T)

• This case and book showed how racism was judged in the south and how the judicial system was judging people by color not by true facts. Some of the controversial issues about the book was the racial insults, blasphemy, discrimination and talking about rape.

• The adults seemed to be more racist and prejudice than some of the children were.

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REVIEW OF THIS STORY

• Tom Robinson was over to the Ewell’s house because Mayella needed some work done since her father, Bob Ewell, wasn’t at home to do it. Mayella kissed Tom on the cheek and then her father had returned back home and started making accusations against Tom Robinson.

• Atticus Finch, who was a white middle-aged lawyer, was asked to defend Tom Robinson. At first, Atticus was hesitant about being Tom’s lawyer because it was putting him and his family’s life in jeopardy and a lot of criticism from the town and from their family as well. Atticus was a good man and had a kind heart so; he had agreed to take his case because it was on his conscience. Atticus only wanted to do what was right believing that Tom was an innocent man and that he deserved a fair trial and justice.

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THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TRIAL OF TOM ROBINSON

• Tom Robinson was afraid when they moved him to the county jail the night before the trial.

• Atticus stayed at the county jail with Tom, guarding his cell because he was afraid that something bad would happen to Tom overnight on the count of the accusations that were made against him. Atticus’ children were worried about their father so, they went in town to look for him.

• Trouble did find its way to the town jail like Atticus had thought and the

violence and the threats were made by the men to Atticus and to Tom.

• Atticus’ children were in town when this was transpiring but because Scout sees the father of one of her classmates that attends school with her, she began to reason with them and the men leave the area.

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THE TRIAL… THE TESTIMONIES

• The story that the Bob and Mayella Ewell told in court was that Tom was called to the house to do some work for Mayella because her father wasn’t home, and he raped her and when her father returned home, Bob saw the two and Tom got scared and ran.

• Tom’s version was that Mayella called him into the house and she was seducing him and he was resisting her, but her father came back home and saw what was going on and he beat Mayella but Tom ran away because he was scared.

• The sheriff testifies that there were bruises on the right side of Mayella’s face, so that would mean that a left handed person had hit her. Tom Robinson didn’t have much usage of his left arm because of an injury from an accident some time ago so that didn’t seem possible that he had committed the crime but her father is left handed.

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THE VERDICT…

• With all of the evidence that was presented, this should have been an open and shut case and Tom Robinson should be a free man.

• The jurors really wanted to convict Tom of the crime because he was a black man and she was a white woman, so they did because they deliberated for a while although the verdict was that Tom Robinson was guilty so he was sent to prison.

• Atticus is hoping to be able to get an appeal later.

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AFTER THE TRIAL…

• Tom Robinson is shot to death because he tried to escape prison.

• Bob Ewell was very upset with Atticus and with the people who supported Atticus in this trial and he felt disgraced by them but he was feeling guilty of his own lies that he told. Bob was so bothered by Atticus and his supporters that he went as far getting revenge on Atticus’ children. He tries to kill them with a kitchen knife. This attack took place after a Halloween play at the children’s school and they were walking home in the dark when Bob appeared.

• The neighborhood man called Boo Radley, who never comes out of his house, was the one who helped the children by stabbing Bob Ewell. The sheriff comes to the scene but he didn’t arrest Boo for stabbing Bob, the sheriff was saying that Bob fell on the knife.

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THE MOCKINGBIRD SYMBOL• Mockingbird is a symbol of being

a copycat, just do whatever they see or hear (good or bad)

• People would say that Tom Robinson was a Mockingbird because he was an innocent black man who was falsely accused.

• Bob Ewell really was the one who started the accusations because he saw Mayella Ewell kiss Tom Robinson on the cheek.

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SOME PERSONAL NOTES

• This case and book showed how racism was judged in the south and how the judicial system was judging people by color not by true facts.

• Some of the controversial issues about the book was the racial insults, blasphemy, discrimination and talking about rape.

• We should not judge people because of the color of their skin, gender, or ethnicity because it is wrong.

• There is a saying that says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. Everybody has good in them.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926. Grew up in Monroeville, Ala.

• As a child, Lee was a tomboy and a precocious reader, and she enjoyed the friendship of her schoolmate and neighbor, the young Truman Capote, who provided the basis of the character of Dill in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

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MORE ABOUT HARPER LEE

• Lee was only five years old in when, in April 1931 in the small Alabama town of Scottsboro, the first trials began with regard to the purported rapes of two white women by nine young black men. The defendants, who were nearly lynched before being brought to court, were not provided with the services of a lawyer until the first day of trial. Despite medical testimony that the women had not been raped, the all-white jury found the men guilty of the crime and sentenced all but the youngest, a twelve-year-old boy, to death.

• Studied first at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama (1944-45), and then pursued a law degree at the University of Alabama (1945-49), spending one year abroad at Oxford University, England.

• worked as a reservation clerk for Eastern Airlines in New York City until the late 1950s, when she resolved to devote herself to writing.

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LAST NOTES ON LEE

• To Kill a Mockingbird won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize despite mixed critical reviews. The novel was highly popular, selling more than fifteen million copies. This was her ONLY novel.

• President Johnson named Lee to the National Council of Arts in June 1966, and since then she has received numerous honorary doctorates.

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD… THE MOVIE

• The book was made into a successful movie in 1962, starring Gregory Peck as Atticus.

• The movie won 3 Oscars, among other awards.

• Lead Actor Gregory Peck

• Writing

• Art Direction

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REFERENCES

 

http://neabigread.org

www.brighthubeducation.com

www.tmc.com

www.wset.comhttp://tecfaetu.unige.ch/etu-maltt/R2D2/dacostj7/stic-2/ex14/epub/ex14.pdf