To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

About the author: Nelle Harper Lee was born April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. Her father was a lawyer and a member of the state legislature. In her childhood, Lee was quite the tomboy and her best friend was future author, Truman Copote. All of these instances are reflected in the her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, To Kill A Mockingbird.

How the novel relates to her childhood: Lee’s father, the lawyer, inspired one of her main characters Atticus Finch in her novel. He is a wise, upstanding man who fights for justice. “Dill”, another character, was inspired by her friend Truman.

The South in the 1930s

In the 1930s south, segregation was widely accepted and enforced. During this time, many African Americans, men in particular, were accused of heinous crimes and convicted by often all white juries. This fact is reflected in the fictional story Lee tells in her novel.

Many actual events inspired Lee’s story. When Lee was five years old, a group of nine black men were accused of raping two white women in Scottsboro, Alabama. The men were put on trial and not given legal representation until the day of their court appearances. Even with medical evidence that the women were not raped, the men were all convicted and all but one were sentenced to death. These kind of occurrences were unfortunately common.

This incident stuck with Lee and became a rough basis for her novel. The novel has been called a “race relations” novel. What does this mean? Understand, racism, segregation, and hate were a way of life in this time period. When reading the novel, do not get caught up so much in the hatred as the points that Lee is trying to make.

This was Harper Lee’s first and only novel ever published. The novel is thought by many to be an American writing masterpiece or the best American novel. The text was published in 1960 after being edited for two years. The novel received a Pulitzer Prize in 1961, a very important literary accomplishment. The novel does use some elements of Lee’s childhood, but the book is meant to represent all the sense of any small town in the deep south. More about the novel:

1930s Alabama: You are to read along as we go over the information you have been given on the Scottsboro boys trial. After reading, you are to pick out a key words and information that you think represents the theme of the trial. Create a word and picture collage on your white piece of paper using this information. On the back of your collage, write a 5 to 7 sentence paragraph telling me your thoughts on the trial. What is your opinion?