To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee
Introduction
• To Kill a Mockingbird is a largely
autobiographical novel by Harper Lee.
• Biography-the story of someone’s life
• Autobiography- story of someone’s life,
told by that person
About the Author
• Harper Lee
• Born Nelle Harper Lee, April 28, 1926
• Grew up during the Great Depression
• Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, in
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the heart of the South, where racial
tension was high
Her own childhood mirrors that of the
character “Scout”
In 1960, she published her only novel-
To Kill a Mockingbird
• It received a Pulitzer Prize for literature
in 1961
Life During the 1930’s
• Race Relations
– Nine black teenagers are falsely
charged with raping two white women
in Scottsboro, Alabama; eight are
convicted and sentenced to death
– The U.S. Supreme court reverses their
convictions because their constitutional
rights had been violated
– The teens are tried for a 2nd time and
found guilty.
– The SC reverses their conviction again.
– Eventually, four of the defendants are
freed; the other five serve prison terms.
– The last Scottsboro defendant was
paroled in 1950.
– It was virtually impossible for a black
person to receive a fair trial
Life during the 1930’s
• The Great Depression sweeps
the nation-Many families do
not have enough money for
basic needs.
• The per capita income for
families in Ala. is $125-$250 a
year.
• Many southern blacks pick
cotton for a living.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt is
President.
• Hitler is chancellor of Germany
and believes that Jews,
African Americans and other
races are inferior to AngloSaxons.
Legal Segregation in Alabama,
1923-1940
• No white female nurses in hospitals that treat black
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men
Separate passenger cars for whites and blacks
Separate waiting rooms for whites and blacks
Separation of black and white convicts
Separate schools
No interracial marriages
Segregated water fountains
Segregated theaters
Morphine: A Southern Lady’s Drug
• 1930’s Typical Morphine Addict
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White female
Middle-aged or older
Widowed
Homebound
Lives in the south
Property owner
Began using morphine for medicinal
reasons
– In To Kill a Mockingbird, the Finch
children will come into contact with
Mrs. Dubose. She personifies the
American morphine addicts of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries.
Narrative Point of View
• To Kill a Mockingbird is told in the
first person, from the point of view
of Scout
• The story is not told by the younger
Scout. It is told by an older Scout
looking back.
Autobiographical Elements:
Harper Lee vs. Scout Finch
• Born in Monroeville,
• Born in Maycomb,
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Alabama
Grew up in the 1930’s
Father was a lawyer
• Mother’s maiden
name=Finch
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Alabama
Grew up in the 1930’s
Father (Atticus) is a
lawyer
Last name=Finch
Setting of TkaM
Setting is a very strong element in TkaM. It is
linked with theme, character, and plot.
Time: 1930’s, Great Depression era
– Economic difficulties of this time caused problems for
all classes of people
– There was a sharp division between blacks and whites
Place: Maycomb, Alabama (1933-1935)Alabama is renown as a site of racial tension;
Southerners in Maycomb continued to believe
in white supremacy
What is a theme?
Theme: The main idea or meaning
of a work.
Themes
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Prejudice
Friendship
Sacrifice
Social snobbery
Tolerance
Equality
Need for conscience
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Maturity
Status
Morality
Patience
Need for compassion
Key Issues
• Tom Robinson’s innocence
• Atticus’ hidden courage
• Mob mentality
• Social classes
• Mrs. Dubose’s morphine addiction
• Jem’s maturity
• Jem and Scout’s experiences with Boo
Radley
Jean Louise Finch…”Scout”
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Six when the story begins
Naturally curious about life
Tomboy
Impulsive
Emotional
Warm and friendly
Sensitive
Gains in maturity in the novel
Atticus Finch
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Father of Scout and Jem
A widower
An attorney by profession
Highly respected
Good citizen
Instills good values/morals in his
children
His children call him “Atticus”
Honest
Brave
Courteous
Soft-spoken
Typical Southern gentleman
Jem Finch
• Scout’s older brother
• 10 at the beginning of
the novel and 13 at the
end
• Very wise for his age
• Very emotional
• More easy-going and not
as adventurous as Scout
Calpurnia
• The Finch’s black
housekeeper
• Has watched the
children since their
mother’s death
• Has been a positive
influence on the
children
Arthur “Boo” Radley
• An adult man, whose father has
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“sentenced” him to a lifetime
confinement to their house
because of some mischief he got
into when he was a teenager
Has a reputation of being a
lunatic
Basically a harmless, wellmeaning person
Sometimes childlike in behavior
Starving for love and affection
Tom Robinson
• A young, harmless,
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innocent, hardworking
black man
Has a crippled left hand
Married with three children
Works on a farm belonging
to Link Deas, a white man
Will be falsely accused of
raping a white girl
Dill
• A close friend of Jem
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and Scout
Usually lives in
Maycomb only during
the summer with his
aunt
Tell “big stories”
Has been deprived of
love and affection
Aunt Alexandra
• Atticus’ sister
• Wishes to make Scout behave like a “lady”
• Doesn’t approve of Atticus defending a
black man
• Concerned how Finch family is seen in the
community
Two Poor White Families
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The Cunninghams
Poor white family
Hard-working
Honest
Proud
Survive on very little
Always pay back their debts-even with
hickory nuts, turnips, or holly
The Ewells
Poor white trash
Dirty
Lazy
Good-for-nothing
Never have done a day’s work
Foul-mouthed
Dishonest
Immoral
The Black Community
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Simple
Honest
Clean
Hard-working
God fearing
Proud
Would never take anything
without paying it back
Respectful
Had stronger character than most
whites
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Oppressed
Uneducated
Discriminated against
Talked about badly
Deserve better than what is
dished out to them by society
Language
• Sometimes the language of Scout will be that of her as a
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child; other times, she will be speaking in the voice of an
adult
Atticus uses formal speech
Calpurnia uses “white language” in the Finch house and
switches to “black jargon” when amidst blacks
The Ewells use foul words and obscenities
Jem, Scout, and Dill will use slang words, typical of their
age
Tom Robinson uses language typical of the southern
black such as “suh” for “sir” and “chillun” for “children”
Various derogatory terms will be used-Lee uses such
language to keep her novel naturally in sync with the
common language of the times
Tone
• Somber
• Serious
• Humorous (at times)
Symbolism
• The Mockingbird symbolizes
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everything that is good and
harmless in this world.
It only sings to please others and
therefore is considered a sin to
shoot the mockingbird. They are
considered harmless creatures
who give joy with their songs.
The mockingbird image/symbol
appears four times in the novel.
Only two characters in the novel
symbolize the mockingbird.