To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy "Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

What was life like back in the 1930s?

Where do you think they are?

Any new ideas on their whereabouts?

THE TRUE CASE: The Scottsboro Boys 1931 – fight on a train while “riding the rails” Two girls allege rape (one a known prostitute) after being jailed for vagrancy Nine black boys jailed in Scottsboro All nine boys are sentenced to death, except youngest (even after one girl confesses she was never raped) All are eventually paroled, freed, or pardoned (except for one – sentenced to death four times, but he escapes to Detroit) (Linder)

THE QUOTATIONS: Scottsboro “The courtroom was one big smiling white face.” - Haywood Patterson “I was scared before, but it wasn’t nothing to how I felt now. I knew if a white woman accused a black man of rape, he was as good as dead.” - Clarence Norris “If you ever saw those creatures, those bigots whose mouths are slits in their faces, whose eyes popped out at you like frogs, whose chins dripped tobacco juice, bewhiskered and filthy, you would not ask how they could do it.” - Defense Attorney Samuel Liebowitz commenting on the jury verdict in Alabama v Patterson (Linder)

“There shouldn’t be any trial for them damn niggers--thirty cents worth of rope would do the work and it wouldn’t cost the county much.” - Decatur lunchroom proprietor. (Linder)

SETTING OF THE NOVEL Southern United States 1930s Great Depression Prejudice and legal segregation Ignorance

Life in the 1930’s Money was scarce Drought across Plains states (Dust Bowl) Average salary: $1,368 Unemployment rises to 25% Most people struggled just to feed their families

Dick and Jane—school book used in 1930s

Why does Scout hate school?

Gender Bias (Prejudice) Women were considered “weak” Women were generally not educated for occupations outside the home In wealthy families, women were expected to oversee the servants and entertain guests Men not considered capable of nurturing children

“White trash” Poor, uneducated white people who lived on “relief “ lowest social class prejudiced against black people felt the need to “put down” blacks in order to elevate themselves

Social Class in the Novel This is probably similar to how class structure existed during the 1930s in the South. The wealthy, although fewest in number, were most powerful. The blacks, although great in number, were lowest on the class ladder, and thus, had the least privileges. Examples of each social class: Wealthy - Finches Country Folk - Cunninghams “White Trash” – Ewells Black Community – Tom Robinson

Race Gender Handicaps Rich/Poor Age Religion Prejudice in the novel Race Gender Handicaps Rich/Poor Age Religion

Point of View First person Story is told by Scout, a 5-year-old girl The story spans from the time Scout is 5 to the time she is 8 the novel is shaped by how Scout sees the world—innocently and lacking in full understanding

Characters Atticus Finch - an attorney whose wife has died, leaving him to raise their two children: -Jem – 9-year-old boy -Scout – (Jean Louise), 5-year-old girl Tom Robinson – a black man accused of raping white girl; he is defended at trial by Atticus

Reading the Novel Setting is all important –be aware of the “where” and “when” as you begin Look for the following themes: Courage Isolation Prejudice Justice Appearance vs. reality Loss of innocence Multiple perspectives (different ways of viewing the world/ events/ people)