Kill A Mockingbird, By Harper Lee, Fear, Gossip And Stereotyping

‘To kill a Mockingbird’ is a strong reflection of Harper Lee, the author’s, upbringing. Having been raised in the small town of Alabama in the 1920’s she was frequently exposed to prejudice and this inspired her to write a book, her only to date, loosely based on her early days. Tom Robinson’s trial, set in Maycomb County, is a parallel to the Scottsboro Trial, which was an infamous case during Lee’s childhood, where a ‘negro’ was accused of rape. However the emphasis is based more on the lawyer

stereotypes. One of the characters affected most dramatically by stereotyping in To Kill a Mockingbird is Walter Cunningham, a poor farmer’s son, who is discriminated against because of his status in society. When Scout is rude to Walter after she and her brother invite him to their house for lunch. Scout tells her cook, Calpurnia, She does not have to be polite to Walter because,“he ain’t company... he’s just a Cunningham” (Lee 24). Although Scout does not know Walter very well at the time of her

an internationally acclaimed figure in the fight against racism, describes this idea as, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate…” Harper Lee’s renowned novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a classic of American literature, explores a story of prejudice through the lives of some small town Southerners in the early 1930’s. The book is narrated by Jean Louise Finch, also known as Scout, a tomboy who prefers to solve