To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee

The Setting of the Novel  Southern United States  Maycomb, Alabama: Alabama is renown as a site of racial tension, historically.  1930s - The Great Depression - Racial segregation

The 1930s – The Great Depression  Businesses failed, factories closed  People were out of work  Even people with money suffered because nothing was being produced for sale.  Poor people lost their homes, were forced to “live off the land.”

Racial Segregation  Racial prejudice was alive & well. Although slavery had ended in 1864, old ideas were slow to change.

Sexism  Despite that women were declared “equal” and given the right to vote in the 1920s, women were still viewed as the “weaker sex.”  Women were generally not educated for occupations outside the home  In wealthy families, women were expected to oversee the servants and entertain guests  Men were not considered capable of nurturing children

Legal Issues of the 1930s & their impact on the novel’s setting  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

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

Prejudice/Discrimination in To Kill a Mockingbird  Race  Gender  Handicaps  Rich/Poor  Age  Religion

To Kill a Mockingbird - Characters  Atticus Finch - an attorney whose wife has died, leaving him to raise their two children:  Jem – 10-year-old boy  Scout – (Jean Louise), 6-year-old girl  Tom Robinson – a black man accused of raping white girl; he is defended at trial by Atticus

To Kill a Mockingbird – Point of View  First person narration  The story is not told by the younger Scout Finch. It is told by an older Scout, looking back. However, the point of view is mostly a first-person limited one; that is, limited to the knowledge of the younger Scout.  In this way, the narration presents a sort of “doubled” perspective on the events.

Question:  Why would the author choose to present a first-person limited point of view, rather than an omniscient one? What advantage is there to using the first-person limited?

To Kill a Mockingbird – Themes Review: Theme is the controlling idea, meaning, or message of a work of art.  Themes in the novel are based on the concept of racial prejudice which was so much a part of society at that time:  Lee stresses the need for human understanding to destroy the evils off racial prejudice..

Autobiographical Elements – Harper Lee vs. Scout Finch Harper Lee:  Born & raised in Alabama  Grew up in 1930s  Father was a lawyer  Mother’s maiden name = Finch Scout Finch:  Born & raised in Alabama  Grew up in 1930s  Father was a lawyer  Last name is Finch While the story is fictional, there are elements of it that are undeniably autobiographical.

Keep in mind while reading…  Setting is all important –be aware of the “where” and “when” as you begin  Point of View – the novel is shaped by the voice of a young girl who sees the story from a position of naïve acceptance  “Goodness vs. Ignorance (Evil)” is an important theme