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What Are The Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And Civil Rights

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Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird centers on a young girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. Her father Atticus Fincher, a lawyer, takes a case to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman.

Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Lee drew inspiration from her own childhood: like Scout, Lee’s father was also a lawyer. Although the novel is not autobiographical, the novel does share some similarities to Lee’s life. While the novel is set in the 1930s, the novel does touch upon issues relevant to Lee’s time. According to an interview, Lee took about two years to write To Kill a Mockingbird (The Bluegrass Special). Prior to the novel’s publication, the Civil Rights movements was in motion. During this decade, the Civil Rights Movement brought …show more content…

The novel continues to be taught in classrooms due to its depiction of themes about race, morality, and innocence. While the novel depicts a discrimination against race, To Kill a Mockingbird also depicts a discrimination against gender and …show more content…

Tom Robinson is accused of raping a young white woman named Mayella Ewell. The Ewell family lack education and money, representing the lower class. As the oldest child, Mayella becomes a mother figure for her younger siblings. In addition, the novel implies that Mayella is involved in an incestuous relationship with her father. While Atticus represents justice and morality, Bob Ewell represents ignorance and racial prejudice. After all, Bob Ewell’s full name is Robert E. Lee Ewell, named after the general who commanded the Confederate army. The name plays a significant role considering the Confederate army represented southern slave states and their right to expand slavery, thereby reinforcing Bob Ewell’s

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