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How Does Harper Lee Impact Society

Decent Essays

Society had a major impact on the creation of this book, inspiring Harper Lee to focus on the racism and judgment during the time period. Growing up in a time where trials such as the Scottsboro Boys were plentiful, Lee wrote of her experiences, and through her characters, showed how society played a role in their lives. Just as society influences her characters for better or for worse, we see in everyday life today how much society plays a role in our lives. Shaping us into one person, then changing us to another, society tells us what is right and what is wrong. It’s up to you to decide which is which.
Harper Lee grew up during the Great Depression and lived through the time where racism was especially big. The main influence of her novel was the Scottsboro Boys Trials, as she incorporated a similar case with Tom Robinson. Both were wrongly accused of rape and both were found guilty. The way she describes racism throughout the novel was also influenced by society, as she must have seen and heard the racism first-hand growing up. To Kill a Mockingbird was Lee's way of telling her story, though it doesn’t say in the novel that Lee is Scout, she writes of her life experiences and feelings through her. …show more content…

If she were truly influenced by society, the majority of which was racist, she herself would have sided with Bob Ewell during Tom Robinson's case. However, she saw herself that Robinson was innocent, and was influenced mostly by her father in that sense. As Atticus raised her to "climb into [someone’s'] skin and walk around in it" she saw how society acted and judged for herself that their behaviour was wrong. Society influenced her by showing her the wrong they caused to Robinson and the whole African American community, and offering her the choice to truly be influenced for the worse, or for her to see the influence as wrong and chose to be

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