The Great Depression In To Kill A Mockingbird

The Great Depression was a devastating time where millions of Americans lost their jobs and their homes (McCabe 12). Not only did the Great Depression influence the writing of her novel, Harper Lee used other historical events to influence the creation of To Kill a Mockingbird. The Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials are some of the historical events that inspired To Kill a Mockingbird.

One unfortunate mistake can not only ruin the world, but the lives of innocent children and their families. Although America has had an amazing growth in economy over a course of decades and centuries, there was a time when everything plummeted. In history, this time was called the Great Depression, and essentially the stock market crashed. However, the impact of the Great Depression not only affected the economy, but the many lives of innocent American humans. Like Walter Cunningham in, To Kill a Mockingbird, the more poor families struggled to give even the basic necessities to their children. The headlines were splattered with photos of the eerie visuals going on regularly during the time; adults not being able to find jobs, and children

I did not expect that I would like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee as much as I do. Written from the perspective of Scout, a young girl in the 1930’s, this book takes a look at many issues, including racism and sexism, all from the innocent eyes of a child. This book reveals many of the issues and struggles faced during the Great Depression. So far, this book is excellently written.

The books To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men were written during the Great Depression. Both of these books tell a story in which the characters are living through these tough conditions every day, from having no money to being racially discriminated. To Kill a Mockingbird and Of Mice and Men convey considerable understanding of a turbulent era in American history.

After the Roaring 20s an Economic Disaster struck which is well known as the Great Depression. This made struggles for thousands of people and put them out of work , money, and at the very least food. All though the Great Depression was rarely mentioned in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, there are multiple instances stating economic trouble throughout the novel. A tumultuous event such as the Great Depression exacerbated tensions in the novel much like socio economic divides influences conflicts today; this is revealed through the analysis of events in the novel as well as present-day issues.

The Great Depression in the U.S history was a time where there was very little jobs and some money. Banks had very little money so most people couldn’t get money out. It was a hard time in U.S history for people when this was going on. The stock market crash a horrible time for people when they had some money and very little jobs. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to help by creating The New Deal. The great dustbowl affected farmers and the change in farming affected the economy. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee illustrates The Great Depression was a worldwide economic slump of the 1930’s.

The Great Depression had a huge impact on society and many economic causes to go along with it. But, what mattered the most was how they got through it. Upton Sinclair once stated, “The remedy [the Great Depression] is to give the workers access to the means of production, and let them produce for themselves, not for others… the American Way.”

In 1929 the effect of The Great Depression echoed throughout The United States. Forcing many farmers to sell their farms and give up on their pursuit of the widely sought after American Dream. Although in third person Steinbeck centers the novella around the two main characters George, and Lennie. Using strong rhetorical strategies such as diction, imagery, novel structure, and literary devices. Steinbeck crafts a story that expresses the hardships of achieving the American Dream.

After the Great Depression, many things changed, different\\ genders and races were all treated differently. Blacks and white women were forced to be outcast in the world, women belonged in the house and blacks did not belong anywhere. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck portrays perfectly of how blacks and women were separated from everyone else with Curley’s wife and Crooks, the black stable hand. Curley’s wife and Crooks are alike in many ways; in their loneliness, the way they are separated from everyone else and how they get out casted from everything, discriminated against during the time period; which helps show how blacks and women were treated during this time period of life.

Herbert Hoover stats in an article titled “The Great Depression and the New Deal” that "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The Great Depression was marked by the same problems we face in our modern Society. Harper Lee wrote the book To Kill a Mockingbird, about the Scottsboro Nine case in the early civil rights movement that had ruthless discrimination, cruel inequality, and with severe consequences to the african-american people.

In 1929 the stock market crashes due to an unstable economy, over speculation and Government policies. Many people think that the stock crash was to blame for the Great Depression but that is not correct. Both the crash and depression were the result of problems with the economy that were still underneath society 's minds. The depression affected people in a series of ways: poverty is spreading causing farm distress, unemployment, health, family stresses and unfortunately, discrimination increases. America tended to blame Hoover for the depression and all the problems. When the 1932 election came people weren’t very fond of Hoover, but Roosevelt on the other hand introduced Happy Days and everyone loved that idea.

Even though the conditions were rough for a lot of Americans, the great Depression has some what of a positive effect on the people of this countrie. The Great Depression made people realize that they need to be thankful for what they had because everything can go wrong in a short amount of time. I also believed it showed people that having a positive attitude, even in the roughest of times, is what will pull them through the hardships in the end. All three of the passages that I read has these two things in common. Everyone in all of the passages maintained a positive attitude and believed that things would get better eventually. They also all were thankful for everything that they had, even though they all had very little.

The Great Depression broke down security and belief in American society during the early 20th century and brought out hidden prejudices. The once optimistic mood during the Roaring 20’s turned to pain. The dire economic situation caused Americans to return to past social stigmas where certain groups of people were seen as inferior; as a result, the American Dream, where everyone could seek their ideal of success, was reduced to merely a dream. John Steinbeck observed these changes in social behavior and witnessed the plight of many Americans during the Great Depression. Like in his later work, The Grapes of Wrath, he was inspired by his environment to expose the lives of people during the Great Depression using Of Mice and Men. Steinbeck observed these changes in social behavior and witnessed the plight of many Americans during the Great Depression. Steinbeck demonstrates in Of Mice and Men through the characters that the American Dream was naturally discriminatory towards certain groups of people because of common perceptions held during that period.

Born in 1897, William Faulkner was born into a traditional southern family in Mississippi. Throughout his career, Faulkner chronicled the effects of the Great Depression in the postbellum South with his short stories and novels. Following an era of excess and luxury, the Great Depression revolutionized the life of Americans living in the southern states. The economic turmoil brought on by the recession increased existing racial tensions and heightened the disparity between the upper and middle classes. Although it takes place approximately forty-five years prior, allusions to the Great Depression can be seen throughout William Faulkner’s short story “Barn Burning” in the racial and social clashes between Abner and the surrounding community, along with the lifestyle of the Snopes family.

In the novel there are many signs that the Great Depression is in effect from setting, plot events, character dialog, and details in the story. The story takes place during the mid-1930s, the height of the Great Depression in the United States. Some events in the story also show the presence and influence of the Great Depression. One event is when Atticus Finch, an eminent lawyer and the father of Scout and Jem, is away for two weeks due to the state legislature calling an emergency meeting. The results of that meeting are told after stating the governor’s intentions, “The