To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Harper Lee growing up Grew up in a small southern town – –1930’s –Monroe, Alabama (7,000 people) Father was a lawyer Highly influence by the now famous Scottsboro Trials Truman Capote (famous writer) best friend next door ***Watch for parallels with her life in the story.

SETTING OF THE NOVEL Maycomb, Alabama –Small Southern Town 1930’s –Great Depression –Prejudice and legal segregation –Ignorance

Prejudices: Racism Racial prejudice was alive & well Slavery ended in 1864 Old ideas were slow to change Jim Crow Laws practiced throughout the South

Jim Crow Laws African Americans relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti- Black racism.

Origin of Jim Crow originated in a song performed by white minstrel show entertainer s –covered face with charcoal - sang and danced a routine in caricature of a silly black person By 1850s, Jim Crow character, one of several stereotypical images of black inferiority in the nation's popular culture, was a standard act in the minstrel shows of the day. How it became a term synonymous with the brutal segregation and disfranchisement of African Americans in the late nineteenth-century is unclear. By 1900, term was generally identified with racist laws and actions that deprived African Americans of civil rights by: –defining blacks as inferior to whites –members of a caste of subordinate people

Examples of Jim Crow Laws

Racial separation (segregation) Racial separation (segregation)

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

“White Trash” Prejudices Thought to be one notch above the African American Lived on outskirts of towns

Legal Issues that impact the story Women given the vote in 1920 Juries were MALE and WHITE “Fair trial” did not include acceptance of a black man’s word against a white man’s

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

Reading the Novel Setting is all important –be aware of “where” and “when” as you begin Point of View –first person voice of a young girl –sees the story from a position of naïve acceptance “Goodness vs. Ignorance (Evil)” is an important theme

The End