To Kill A Mockingbird
A True Classic
By
Harper Lee
Harper Lee and Her Novel
Family of Harper Lee
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Born: April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama…real name Nelle
Harper Lee
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Parents: Amasa (father)
Frances Cunningham Finch (mother)
Father: lawyer and served in the Alabama Legislature
Siblings of Harper Lee
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Youngest of four children
Sister: Alice was a lawyer and practiced with
her father
Sister: Louise married Hank Conner and had
two children
Brother: Edwin Coleman married Sara Anne
McCall and had two children
Education of Harper Lee
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Youngest of four children…educated at
Monroeville public schools
Attended Huntingdon College 1944-45
Studied law at the University of Alabama
1945-49
Studied one year at Oxford University
Employment of Harper Lee
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Worked as a reservation clerk with Eastern Air
Lines and British Overseas Airline Company
in 1950’s
Gave up job to focus on her writing
Divided her time between NYC and
Monroeville
Friends Growing Up
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Growing up loved to write
Truman Capote was her neighbor
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Born Sept. 30, 1924
Died Aug. 25, 1984
Wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1955) and In Cold
Blood (1966)
Spent summers in Monroeville
Writing the Novel
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Compiled the story
Submitted it for publishing to J.B. Lippincott
Company
Urged to rewrite because too much like a
group of short stories rather than a novel
Worked with an editor for two and a half years
to rewrite
Resubmitted in 1960
The Novel’s Reception
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Published July 1960
Placed on best seller list for 85 weeks straight
Printed in ten languages
Became book of the month
Became a Reader’s Digest condensed book
Paperback of the year in 1962
Won the Pulitzer Prize
To the Big Screen
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Made into a movie
Gregory Peck won the
Academy Award for his
role as Atticus Finch
Mary Badham Wilt
played Scout
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Nominated for Best
Supporting Actress at
age ten, but lost to Patty
Duke
Movie Cast
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Dill: John Menga
Miss Maudie: Rosemary Murphy
Mrs. Dubose: Ruth White
Tom Robinson: Brock Peters
Calpurnia: Estelle Evans
Mayella: Colin Wilcox Paxton
Bob Ewell: James Anderson
Aunt Stephanie: Alice Ghostley
Boo: Robert Duvall
Nathan: Richard Hale
Jem: Philip Alford
Novel’s Background
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The novel is based on the following:
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National events
Specific people
Personal experience
National Events
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Scottsboro Trial
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Alleged gang rape of two white girls
Nine black teenagers accused
Southern freight train from Chattanooga to Memphis
March 25, 1931
April 9, 1931…nine were sentenced to death
Mistrial for the ninth because of his youth
Executions suspended because of appeals
November 7, 1932 US Supreme Court ordered new trials
because they had not had adequate legal representation
Maycomb is Like Monroeville
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Truman Capote was Dill
Atticus was based on Harper’s dad
Calpurnia was similar to Hattie Belle Clausell the negro
woman who helped Harper Lee’s mom
The Radley family was similar to the Boleware family who
lived on the same street at Harper’s family…their son got into
trouble with the law and was kept inside under the father’s
watch… very similar to Boo
Stores in the book are like those in Monroeville…the
courthouse was at the center of the town square in both places
Monroeville Today
Monroeville, the county seat of Monroe County,
was named, like the county, for U. S. President
James Monroe. The land was originally held by
Creek Indians. Total size of the county is 1,019
square miles, the ninth largest of-Alabama's
counties.
In and Around Monroeville
Today
Concepts from the Novel
Legal Aspects
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Prosecution: The state of Alabama (Mr. Gilmer)
Defense: Tom Robinson (Defendant) Atticus Finch (lawyer)
Judge: Mr. Taylor
Jury: all white men who are farmers and uneducated
Court: old worn down inside and outside mighty Greek
columns…opposites
Witness: testifies to what he/she saw
Summation: closing remarks
Evidence: eye witness account…no doctor
Bench: where the judge sits
Flowers of the South
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Holly
Collards
Camellias
Azaleas
Cotton
Chinaberries
Dewberries
Pecan tree
Cannas
Mimosa
Kudzu
Hickory nuts
Scuppernongs
Wisteria
Geraniums
Gardenias
Johnson grass
Camellias
Scuppernongs
Chinaberries
Foods of the South
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Collards
Hickory nuts
Fried chicken
Scuppernongs
Lemonade
Pound cake
Lane cake
Ice cream
Ham
Summer vegetables
Peach pickles
Ambrosia
Biscuits and butter
Cornbread
Pork and beans
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Fried pork chops
Coca cola
Sardines
Crackers
Nehi cola
Potato salad
Pickled pigs’ knuckles
Charlotte
Dewberry tarts
Cookies
Divinity
Angel food cake
Biscuits and gravy
Butterbeans
Culture of the 1930’s
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People
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Art
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Amelia Earhart…1st woman to fly solo across Atlantic
Jessie Owens…African American athlete...4 gold medals in track and
field 1936…Olympics Berlin
Mt. Rushmore completed by Gutzon Borglum
Jason Pollock artist
Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center
Education
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School terms shortened because depression led to short money supplytaxes
Dick and Jane books
Culture Continued…
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Fashion and Fads
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Hobby…stamp collecting
Monopoly…20, 000 sets sold in a week in 1935
Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio
Zipper used in clothes
Literature
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Writers
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F. Scott Fitzgerald
Hemingway
Steinbeck
Wilder
Music
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Duke Ellington
Benny Goodman
Glenn Miller
1931 Star Spangled Banner
Culture Continued…
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Radio
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Science/Technology
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80% people owned one by 1939
Jack Benny Show…Lone Ranger…soap operas…The Shadow
NY World’s Fair 1939 World of Tomorrow
Einstein immigrated to US in 1933 professor at Princeton
Better refrigeration
Nylon made
1938 photocopying started
Theater and Film
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Hollywood flourished
Clark Gable…Bette Davis…Shirley Temple
Gone with the Wind
Culture Continued…
Dick and Jane Reader:
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Popular basal reader
Written by Zerna Sharp
1930-1970
Relied on sight reading and repetition....ignored phonics
Stories about family life
1965 integration of school....characters changed
Main original characters
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Jane
Dick
Spot
Mom
Dad
Characters
Atticus Finch
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Ideal view of justice
Understands true worth of people whether black or white
Doesn’t allow prejudice to get in the way
Teaches his children well
Wants his kids to be compassionate and understanding of all
people
His sister doesn’t agree with all his beliefs
Central figure…his name is a term that refers to greatness and
it implies learning, culture, and heroism
Source of strength and help
Has a sense of integrity
Characters
Scout Finch
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Jean Louise
Narrator
Innocent young child…6 to 9 years old
Open-minded
Learns the complexities of life
Gains understanding
Nickname because she is the scout of Maycomb
Tomboy
Idolizes her father
A bit bossy
Smart…quick thinking
Characters
Jem Finch
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Jeremy
Older brother
Grows up…changes the most
10 years old to 13
Acts similar to Atticus
Characters
Calpurnia
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Black cook and housekeeper for the Finch
family
Link between the black and white worlds
Raises the Finch children…disciplines them
Learned to read and write from old law books
Characters
Dill Harris
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Real name Charles Baker Harris
From Meridian, Mississippi
Play companion of Jem and Scout
Comes to Maycomb each summer to his aunt’s house,
Miss Rachel
Has no father and is unwanted by his mother…lonely
Looks like a misfit
Has a talent for telling tales from books and movies
Enthralled by the Radley house and family
Characters
Boo Radley
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Neighbor to the Finch family
Has not been outside in many years…stories surround
him…stabbing father with scissors
Symbol of kindness and bravery
Phantom….hence his name
He seems to be the town freak but has a greater sense
of values
Foils Bob Ewell’s plan of attack
Kids learn that he is very different than they imagine
Characters
Miss Maudie
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Kids favorite neighbor
Supports Atticus and what he does
Widow in her forties
Serves as a role model for Scout
Makes cakes
House burns
Well respected
Characters
Aunt Alexandra
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Atticus’s younger sister
Is at odds with Atticus and his beliefs
Is preoccupied with family and the reputation
Comes to help turn Scout into a lady
Characters
Miss. Stephanie Crawford
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Prejudice
Town gossip
Spreads rumors about Boo Radley
Characters
Mrs. Dubose
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Old neighbor
Kids think that she is mean
Taunts and frightens the kids
Struggles at the end to free herself of the
morphine addiction
Characters
Bob Ewell
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Poor farmer
Makes no attempt to live with dignity
Often abuses his 8 children
Unemployed drunk
Dependent on town charity
Lives in squalor next to the town dump
Angry man
Characters
Mayella Ewell
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Bob Ewell’s 19 year old daughter
Has no friends
Lonely
Kind but not smart
Characters
Tom Robinson
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African American who is wrongfully accused
of raping Mayella
Strong, handsome and in his twenties
Has a wife Helen and 3 kids
Described as clean living
Works for Link Deas
Hand crippled from cotton gin accident
Miss. Caroline Fisher
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Teacher
Twenty-one
Looks like a peppermint
Bright auburn hair
From North Alabama
The Cunningham's
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Walter goes to school with Scout
The crash hit them the hardest
Country folk
Farmers
Paid for thigs with what they had…hickory
nuts
Setting
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Imaginary district of Maycomb County
Southern Alabama
Summer of 1933 to Halloween 1935
Grips of the Depression
Rural area…farms…crops meager
Poor
Progress is slow
The Radley House
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Old
Run down
Rain rotted shingles
Mysterious
Family….Mr. and Mrs. And Nathan and
Arthur
Two live oaks stood at the end of the property
Downtown Maycomb
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Tyndall’s Hardware
Ok Café
Maycomb Tribune
Hotel
Maycomb Jail
Mayco Drug Store
Sinkfield Tavern
Maycomb Bank
VJ Elmore Store
Post Office
Court House
Other Places Around Maycomb
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Barker’s Eddy…off
Meridian Highway…about a
mile from town
Fish pool
Town Dump
Ewell House
Negro Settlement
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Tom Robinson’s house
First Purchase African ME
Church
Other Residents of Maycomb
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Cecil Jacobs
Mr. Avery
Mrs. Merriweather
Mrs. Crenshaw
Miss Tutti and Frutti
Judge Taylor
Heck Tate
Mr. Underwood
Mr. Gilmer
Dr. Reynolds
Dolphus Raymond
Link Deas
Caroline Fisher
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Reverend Sykes
Zeebo
Rachel Haverford
Helen Robinson
Lula
Walter Cunningham Sr.
Walter Cunningham, Jr.
Mr. Harry Johnson
Point of View
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Scout Finch is the narrator…the reader sees
the story through a child’s eyes
She uses adult language
Perceptive, independent child
1st person
Themes
Prejudice
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White and black community is separate
Most white people believe they are superior to
the blacks
Prejudice leads to hypocrisy
Characters who want change and tolerance are
seen as odd
Sexism is a form of prejudice…Scout is
admonished for not being a lady
Themes
Understanding
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Atticus teaches Jem and Scout to be tolerant of
others
Seeing life from a different
perspective…walking in someone else's shoes
Children learn to accept behavior of
others…Mrs. Dubose and Boo Radley
Themes
Loss of Innocence
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Scout in the beginning is innocent and by the
end of the novel has matured…bilundgsroman
Scout outgrows childish ways
Jem grows up as well
Trial of Tom and especially the outcome
teaches Scout and Jem about the harsh realities
of life
Themes
Courage
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Jem shows courage by touching the house
Atticus shoots the rabid dog
Scout learns not to fight with her fists…instead
uses her mind…moral courage
Atticus takes on the case
Mrs. Dubose overcomes addiction and faces
death on her own terms
Boo comes out of the house
Themes
Justice and Law
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Atticus has faith in the justice system
Court outside description vs. inside
Judge Taylor does his best to give Tom a fair
trial
Heck Tate does not decide to pursue Bob
Ewell’s death shows his belief in natural
justice/ “let the dead bury the dead”
Symbols
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Fire at Miss Maudie’s house burns out of
control just as racism does in Maycomb
The rabid dog needs to be shot down in one
shot just as racism does, and Atticus must do it
Boo’s name …ghost
Boo and Tom are the mockingbird…symbol of
innocence
Jail symbolizes anything that is out of date
Style
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Form…many episodes are interwoven together
Book begins and ends with the description of Jem’s broken
arm
Two stories/parts …Boo and the mystery to get him out of the
house and the trial
Simple sentence structure and diction
Dialect…characteristic speech of the region
Irony…contrast between reality and what appears to be real
Foreshadowing…clue to events to come
Humor…lends a light touch
Life in Maycomb
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Exhibits values and
attitudes of the deep
South
Social status depends on
family background
Religion is important
School system and
lessons not received as
important
Educated
Whites
Finch Family
Cunningham's…poor
Whites
Ewell’s…poor…trash
Blacks
General Plotline
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Introduction…characters and town are presented
Rising….fascination with the Radley family and the trial
Climax…verdict
Falling…Tom’s escape and result
Conclusion…what happens to Bob Ewell and the kids
Plot Diagram
Is the novel outdated?
You Decide…
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Pro
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Con
Harper Lee Years Later
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For years Harper has lived in Monroeville and New York City
On May 7, 2006 Lee wrote about her love of books in a letter
to Oprah which was published in the Oprah magazine, O, on
July 2006
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On November 5, 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal
of Freedom … Gregory Peck's wife attended the
ceremony… Bush called Lee's book a gift to the world
Harper leads a private life with emphasis on church and
community work