The use of events in novels from history is not uncommon. Harper Lee does this in her historical fiction novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. The setting of the book is the 1930s, because this was an important decade of change for America. Harper Lee utilized cultural parallels between important historical events and ideas in To Kill A Mockingbird to show the hardships of the 1930s that influenced corruption of the human mindset. One of the largest, and most crippling events of the 1930s was the Great Depression. Preceded by a decade of wealth and a carefree attitude, the crash of the economy came as a shock to everyone involved. In the article, “Standards Focus: Historical Context, The Great Depression”, the author points out that “People’s …show more content…
The 1930s was the beginning of an extremely unethical era, which led to the spread of corrupt ideas and principles through the nation. This is shown in the article, “Standards Focus: Historical Context, Based on True Stories”. As the author is telling of the events that occurred during The Scottsboro Trials, it is mentioned that out of the nine black men accused of rape, eight “were given death sentences, despite the fact that the defense attorney pointed out that one of the men was blind, the other too elderly and crippled to commit the crime, another underage, and that they were not even in the same rail car.” (Secondary Solutions). The verdict that the men were guilty was made because with the rough life people were living, they were willing to lie to keep themselves protected, and those who believed this act was wrong were not strong enough to protest. This is a parallel to To Kill A Mockingbird, because despite obvious evidence that Tom Robinson is innocent, he is still determined to be guilty. In the trial in Lee’s novel, the victim was hurt mainly on their right side. It is said that “He [Tom Robinson] rose to his feet and stood with his right hand on the back of his chair. He looked oddly off balance, but it was not from the way he was standing. His left arm was fully twelve inches shorter than his right, and hung dead at his side. It ended in a small shriveled hand, and from as far away as the balcony
Maycomb, Alabama is filled with challenges that Scout Finch, the main character, faces. Scout lives with her father, Atticus, brother, Jem, and their cook, Calpurnia. Calpurnia is like a mother figure to Scout when her mother dies. Scout learns lessons from Atticus throughout the book. Scout, Jem, and their neighbor, Dill, are very determined to get Boo Radley out of his house. Boo Radley’s real name is Arthur. Arthur is thirty years old and hasn’t come out of his house in years. He lives right across the street from Scout with his older brother, Nathan. Scout, Jem, and Dill play games that involve the Radley’s. They start daring each other to touch the house or knock on the door hoping to get Arthur out. Arthur notices the children always by his’ house so he starts to leave treats in the tree. The children notice that it’s him leaving all these treats near the end of the book. They start to make schemes to get Arthur outside.
Conflict can be a disagreement or an argument between individuals or communities, for example different ideas or interests can result in conflict. Conflict can be used to describe physical combat or verbal opposition between people. To Kill A Mockingbird is set in 1930s South America; this was the time of the Great Depression after the American Stock Market collapsed in 1929. Times were hard and there is a lot of poverty in the novel, even the Finches are not wealthy. Harper Lee presents conflict in the novel through many different aspects; one of these ways is how prejudiced the white communities are towards the black communities. A factor contributing to people’s
Immigrants from all over the world come to America with the idea of freedom in mind. Frequently, people think of the type of freedom found in America as a life without constraints, a place where they can express their opinions and act without judgement. The New Oxford English Dictionary defines freedom as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint” (“Freedom”). The promise of freedom in America brings hope, but this hope is not always necessarily fulfilled. Throughout American history, people have fought for many freedoms. While the government integrates these freedoms into laws, people hoping for a life “without hindrance” may find that many times, they still run into obstacles that challenge their
The quote "People generally see what they look for and hear what they listen for" was written by Harper Lee, an author widely known for her book To Kill a Mockingbird. In fact, the quote was said in this book by Judge Taylor during a court section. He was warning the people in the room about what they might hear, telling them to stay at their own risk. He provides many life lessons by saying this. For example, he teaches that people only see and hear what they want to, people feel and interpret things differently, and that people are closed off from what is really happening.
The book "To Kill a Mockingbird" is a story of life in an Alabama town in the 30's. The narrator, Jean Louise Finch, or Scout, is writing of a time when she was young, and the book is in part the record of a childhood, believed to be Harper Lee’s, the author of the book..
To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic film, originally published as a novel by Harper Lee in 1960 and republished as a film by Robert Mulligan in 1962. This movie is based on a white attorney, Atticus Finch, defending an African American man, Tom Robinson, which was accused of raping a white woman. This trial illustrates how server racisms was in the early 1960’s. A Time to Kill is the prefect demonstration to show how racism still exists 30 years later. In 1966, Joel Schumacher directed A Time to Kill (1996). This movie is about a 10 year old black girl, Tonya Hailey, that was brutally raped by two white men. On the day of the trial, her father, Carl Hailey, takes justice into his own hands and kills the men that assaulted his daughter. Carl is represented by a white attorney, Jake Brigance.
To Kill a Mockingbird the novel, displays the importance of courage, conscience and conviction in a small town of Maycomb set in the 1930’s where the roles of racism and prejudice are evident through characters and symbolism. The main themes are expressed through Scout’s point of view and the reader sees how her youth and naiveness reflects how she sees the world around her. Scout Finch a young girl and the daughter of the lawyer defending Tim Robinson, an african-american who is accused of raping Mayella Ewell. Prejudice is used through various characters and themes which reflects the town Maycomb during this time. Initially, Scout was unable to see this. The novel written by Harper Lee explores South America during the great depression and how good and evil can coexist in many individuals, particularly those living in Scout’s street.
Throughout the years women have always been seen as a lesser value on comparison to men. Women are always shaped and molded a certain way to society’s liking. They have been told to act and behave a certain way because that is what is expected of them. Of course there is also the view of certain women that like to fit those expectations. Yet for men, they are influenced and respected when they act as they please and stand out from other men. It is extremely unfair to discriminate women and push them into being a certain way when women have so much potential to offer. Women back then and even now are being limited to a life that is already chosen for them. They are given an ideal as to how a women should behave and
I think that the events occurring in To Kill a Mockingbird can be linked to many things occurring in real life. So far the book has followed Scout Finch(six years old at the beginning of book), who currently lives in the south with her family; consisting of Jem(older brother, ten at beginning), and Atticus(their father). Dill is not part of the biological family, but will be included because he is a major influence of the plot. Speaking of influence, that brings me to my first connection.
Realistic Fiction authors tend to use techniques in their novels to prove a point or show a goal. Techniques are very helpful in writing rRealistic fFiction novels because it helps the reader understand what the author is trying to convey. In this novel with the title To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee used that to her own advantage;, the techniques in this book were very clear to the eye and it helped the reader more to understand the part that they were reading. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird the story is about a little girl named Scout who lives in the south in a little town called Maycomb, Alabama and during the Great Depression in the 1930s. and currently living in the great depression. During the story, Scout’s father Atticus receives a case involving a black man Tom Robinson (a black man) who is convicted of committing a crime to a white woman, and throughout the story many people are against Scout and her family because of her dad’s case and how he is defending a black man. Scout is also the narrator throughout the story and she tells else all of what happens in Maycomb those couple of years. The author Harper Lee uses many techniques, such as providing multiple points of view, showing symbolism, and revealing actions to prove or show a goal in her writing. In this book she used techniques such as providing multiple points of view, showing symbolism, and revealing actions throughout
When Harper Lee was writing about the trial of Tom Robinson in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” she had a very real case to look to for inspiration. The trial of the Scottsboro Boys was a world renowned case in the 1930’s in which nine black youths were accused of raping to white girls in Alabama. Lee’s novel took this case and created the fictional case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a lower class white girl in a small town in Alabama during the Depression-era. The Scottsboro trials were the main source of inspiration for Lee’s novel, and although the circumstances of the novel differed from the real-life scandal, the similarities between the two cases are quite abundant.
Published in 1960 but set in the deep South during the 1930’s, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was an instant classic that has endured for more than half a century. Still taught in schools and often referenced in popular culture, Lee’s story of the Finch family in tiny Maycomb, Alabama is known as a “Great American Novel” because of Lee’s entertaining examination of so many timeless, socially relevant themes. Through her characters of Atticus Finch, his daughter Scout, and their mysterious neighbor Boo Radley, Lee considers the theme of courage in its many forms as her story unfolds.
Harper Lee’s best novel is none other than To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper. The novel was published in 1960 and is a straightforward novel about developing in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. Lee attempts to present a sense of moral realities to the reader. Harper Lee through her novel has attempted to present certain moral truths to the reader. She uses the first person point of view to establish compassion to her audience. “The backdrop of the text attracts the reader’s attention to the racial discrimination that was characteristic of the 1930s America” (Dogra 1). The novel has many elements such as terror, corrosion, conundrum and many others. Lee’s best-selling novel, To Kill a Mockingbird establishes that ethics and education coexist and lead to a series of events in the novel.
Do you have the courage to stand up for good when evil lingers all around? To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the great depression, while facing social status discrimination, racial discrimination, prejudices, and stereotyping. However, there remained courage by some to see good in all. While Atticus Finch was of a higher social status as an attorney in Maycomb, he always displayed the courage to stand up for what was right, or for good, even when evil lingered in the shadows. While this story was from great depression, these same issues are still in the world today. Prejudices and stereotyping are very common especially when one looks, or dresses, or talks differently than others. Courage comes into play when one is willing to stand up for those being criticized or for those perceived as being a lower social status. Having courage can show more about a person and who one is regardless of social status even if it is a lower social status.
I think that To Kill A Mockingbird reflects historical realities in three ways. In the book, Atticus Finch said, “professional people were poor because the farmers were poor” (Lee, pg 23). This is a reflection of the way that the Great Depression and Dust Bowl hit Southern farms hard and made life difficult. During this time farmers could barely grow enough to eat, let alone sell at market and support their families. Another example of this reason is when, Scout is spoken to by her teacher. "'Your father does not know how to teach. You can have a seat now.' I mumbled that I was sorry and retired meditating upon my crime" (Lee, pg 19). In this discussion you can see that when it came to women and education, Maycomb, Alabama was just like any