HARPER LEE’S
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
An Introduction
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Sneetches
What did you notice about the film? What was
happening?
What comes to mind in regards to the video?
Why do you think Dr. Seuss wrote this story? What
message do you think he was trying to get across?
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The critical literacy concepts displayed in The
Sneeches are direct, but critical literacy does not
have to be. Some writers have specific challenges in
mind, and end up producing many others because
of the different perspectives of different readers.
Some texts require more critical thinking than others.
Harper Lee
Born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama
Youngest of four children
1957 – submitted manuscript for her novel; was
urged to rewrite it
Spent over two years reworking it
1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird (her only novel)
published
1966 - was one of two persons named by
President Johnson to the National Council of Arts
To Kill a Mockingbird
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narrator · Scout narrates the story herself, looking back in retrospect an
unspecified number of years after the events of the novel take place.
point of view · Scout narrates in the first person, telling what she saw and
heard at the time and augmenting this narration with thoughts and
assessments of her experiences in retrospect. Although she is by no means an
omniscient narrator, she has matured considerably over the intervening years
and often implicitly and humorously comments on the naïveté she displayed in
her thoughts and actions as a young girl. Scout mostly tells of her own thoughts
but also devotes considerable time to recounting and analyzing Jem’s thoughts
and actions. It is this point of view that reveals the genre as memoir.
tone · Childlike, humorous, nostalgic, innocent; as the novel progresses,
increasingly dark, foreboding, and critical of society
tense · Past
To Kill a Mockingbird Cont…
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setting (time) · 1933–1935
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setting (place) · The fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama
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protagonist · Scout Finch
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major conflict · The childhood innocence with which Scout and Jem begin
the novel is threatened by numerous incidents that expose the evil side of
human nature, most notably the guilty verdict in Tom Robinson’s trial and the
vengefulness of Bob Ewell. As the novel progresses, Scout and Jem struggle
to maintain faith in the human capacity for good in light of these recurring
instances of human evil.
TKAM turns 50 - Video
To Kill a Mockingbird cont…
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TKAM has a very controversial past and present.
Due to its language content, themes of race, class,
gender, and justice, it has been, and continues to be
greatly censored in schools.
However, it remains one of the most popular and
widely acclaimed books of all time.
Video (Harrison Ford)
History of the Southern USA
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Slavery was a huge part of Southern life until the
Civil War in 1861.
During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln legislated
that all men are created free and abolished slavery
within the United States with the Emancipation
Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
On April 9, 1865 the Confederate Army and
General Lee surrendered to the Union and General
Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia.
Authors cannot escape their lives:
Harper Lee’s childhood
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Grew up in 1930s - rural southern
Alabama town
Scout Finch’s childhood
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Father - Amasa Lee - attorney who
served in state legislature in
Alabama
Older brother and young neighbor
(Truman Capote) are playmates
Harper Lee - an avid reader
Six years old when Scottsboro trials
were meticulously covered in state and
local newspapers
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Grew up in 1930s - rural southern
Alabama town
Father - Atticus Finch - attorney
who served in state legislature in
Alabama
Older brother and young neighbor
(Dill) are playmates
Scout reads before she enters
school; reads Mobile Register
newspaper in first grade
Six years old when the trial of Tom
Robinson takes place
SETTING
Maycomb, ALABAMA
OR
Monroeville, ALABAMA
Scottsboro Trials - The Novel's Setting in the 1930s
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There are many parallels between the trial of Tom Robinson in To Kill a
Mockingbird and one of the most notorious series of trials in the nation's
history ‚ the Scottsboro Trials. On March 25, 1931, a freight train was
stopped in Paint Rock, a tiny community in Northern Alabama, and nine
young African American men who had been riding the rails were arrested.
As two white women - one underage - descended from the freight cars,
they accused the men of raping them on the train. Within a month the first
man was found guilty and sentenced to death. There followed a series of
sensational trials condemning the other men solely on the testimony of the
older woman, a known prostitute, who was attempting to avoid prosecution
under the Mann Act, prohibiting taking a minor across state lines for
immoral purposes, like prostitution. Although none of the accused were
executed, a number remained on death row for many years. The case was
not settled until 1976 with the pardon of the last of the Scottsboro
defendants.
Scottsboro Trials
Parallels between Tom Robinson’s Case and the Scottsboro Trials
The Scottsboro Trials
Tom Robinson’s Trial
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Took place in the 1930s
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Took place in northern Alabama
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Began with a charge of rape made by white
women against African American men
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The poor white status of the accusers was a
critical issue.
A central figure was a heroic judge, a member
of the Alabama Bar who overturned a guilty
jury verdict against African American men.
This judge went against public sentiment in trying
to protect the rights of the African American
defendants.
The first juries failed to include any African
Americans, a situation which caused the U.S.
Supreme Court to overturn the guilty verdict.
The jury ignored evidence, for example, that the
women suffered no injuries.
Attitudes about Southern women and poor
whites complicated the trial.
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Occurs in the 1930s
Takes place in southern Alabama
Begins with a charge of rape made by a
white woman against an African American
man
The poor white status of Mayella is a critical
issue.
A central figure is Atticus, lawyer, legislator
and member of the Alabama Bar, who
defends an African American man.
Atticus arouses anger in the community in
trying to defend Tom Robinson.
The verdict is rendered by a jury of poor
white residents of Old Sarum.
The jury ignores evidence, for example, that
Tom has a useless left arm.
Attitudes about Southern women and poor
whites complicate the trial of Tom
Social Class in the Novel
This is probably similar to
how class structure
existed during the 1930’s
in the South. The
wealthy, although fewest
in number, were most
powerful. The blacks,
although great in number,
were lowest on the class
ladder, and thus, had the
least privileges.
Wealthy
Country Folk
"White Trash"
Black
Community
Examples of each social class:
Wealthy - Finches
Country Folk - Cunninghams
“White Trash” – Ewells
Black Community – Tom Robinson
Living in a World of Discrimination
Journal Entry:
What are you thinking/feeling
as you view the following
images?
Write you responses and
thoughts in your notebook.
A cafe near the tobacco market. (Signs:
Separate doors for "White" and for "Colored.“)
North Carolina, 1940
Jim Crow Laws
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Between 1877 and 1960, after the American Civil War most
states in the South passed anti-African American legislation.
In daily life, African Americans were relegated to the status
of second class citizens.
These unwritten laws, or conventions, discriminated against
African Americans with concern to attendance in public
schools and the use of facilities.
Many Christian ministers and
theologians taught that Whites
were the Chosen people, Blacks
were cursed to be servants, and
God supported racial segregation.
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The Jim Crow laws were
eventually repealed in 1954.
How Long Were They in Place?
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The segregation of blacks started from the
1830's through the 1950's.
Jim Crow was the name for a system of laws
and customs that imposed racial segregation
and discrimination on African Americans from
the end of the Civil War until the 1950's.
What Was Their Purpose?
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The purpose of the Jim Crow Laws was to segregate the
whites and African Americans and limit the African
Americans activities.
When an African American did everyday normal things
such as using a public restroom or going to see a movie
they had to use the coloured section or area.
These coloured areas were usually not as nice as the
white areas.
Examples of Jim Crow Laws
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Blacks and Whites were not supposed to eat
together. If they did eat together, Whites were to be
served first, and some sort of partition was to be
placed between them.
Under no circumstance was a black male to offer to
light the cigarette of a White female – that gesture
implied intimacy.
Blacks were not allowed to show public affection
toward one another in public, especially kissing,
because it offended Whites.
Steson Kennedy, author of Jim Crow Guide offered these “simple” rules:
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6.
7.
Never assert or even intimate that a White person is lying.
Never impute dishonourable intentions to a White person.
Never suggest that a White person is from an inferior class.
Never lay claim to, or overly demonstrate, superior
knowledge or intelligence.
Never curse a White person.
Never laugh derisively at a White person.
Never comment upon the appearance of a White female.
1 Kennedy,
Steson. Jim Crow Guide: The Way it Was. Boca Raton: Florida Atlantic University Press, 19591990, pp, 216-117
What can we learn from TKAM?
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Handout/Reading: Everything I Need to Know I
learned from Harper Lee:
Article
Throughout the reading of this novel, you will see
how author’s ideologies (beliefs and systems of
belief) are woven in to the stories they tell.
Literary Theories: A Sampling of
Critical Lenses
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Literary theories were developed as a means to
understand the various ways people read texts.
All literary theories are lenses through which we can
see texts. There is nothing to say that one is better
than another or that you should read according to
any of them, but it is sometimes fun to “decide” to
read a text with one in mind because you often end
up with a whole new perspective on your reading.
3 Critical Lenses
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1. Racism
To Kill a Mockingbird is a text that at the core challenges
racial discrimination.
The subject of racism has been a lively topic for critical
debate since approximately the 1950s, with scholars
examining the treatment of various kinds of discrimination
based on race, religion, or gender in literary works—both
past and present—as well as in the attitudes of the writers
themselves. In some cases racism is a prominent, or even the
chief theme, while in other works critics have revealed racist
attitudes that serve as underlying assumptions, but may not
be immediately evident to the reader.
Critical Lenses
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2. Marxism
“Marxist criticism: An approach to literature that focuses on
the ideological content of a work—its explicit and implicit
assumptions and values about matters such as culture, race,
class, and power.
Marxist criticism, based largely on the writings of Karl
Marx, typically aims at not only revealing and clarifying
ideological issues but also correcting social injustices.
Some Marxist critics use literature to describe the competing
socioeconomic interests that too often advance capitalist
interests such as money and power rather than socialist
interests such as morality and justice.
Marxism Cont.
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They argue that literature and literary criticism
are essentially political because they either
challenge or support economic oppression.
Because of this strong emphasis on the political
aspects of texts, Marxist criticism focuses more on
the content and themes of literature than on its
form.”
This school of critical theory focuses on power and
money in works of literature. Who has the power
and/or money? Who does not? What happens as
a result?
Critical Lenses
3. Gender
A gender critic sees cultural and economic disabilities in a
“patriarchal” society that have hindered or prevented
women from realizing their creative possibilities and
women’s cultural identification as a merely negative
object, or “Other,”.
 However texts also follow the journey of both males
and females and in many texts that challenge gender
roles, males and females growth is presented in contrast
to one another. There There are several assumptions
and concepts held in common by most gender critics:
1.
Our civilization is pervasively patriarchal.
2. The concepts of “gender” are largely, if not entirely, cultural ideas, created
by the enduring patriarchal biases of our civilization.
3. This patriarchal ideology also serves to select those writings that have been
considered great literature. Such works lack independent female role
models, are implicitly addressed to male readers, and leave the woman
reader an alien outsider or else solicit her to identify against herself by
assuming male values and ways of perceiving, feeling, and acting.
4. This is somewhat like Marxist criticism, but instead of focusing on the
relationships between the classes it focuses on the relationships between the
genders. Under this theory you would examine the patterns of thought,
behaviour, values, and power in relations between the sexes.
As you read the novel…
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Continue to ask yourself how your own ideology
plays out in your own lives, the decisions you make,
and the stories you tell. By reading this novel, you
will know from where Lee’s beliefs about race,
gender, and class stem, and you will clearly see
what it is she values and feels worth standing up for.
Now you need to decide for yourself what you
believe, why you hold such beliefs, and what it is
you feel is worth standing up for.
Main Characters
Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – six-year-old narrator of story
Jem (Jeremy Finch) – her older brother
Atticus Finch – Jem and Scout’s father, a prominent lawyer
who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman
Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse who
lives next door
Charles Baker (Dill) Harris – Jem and Scout’s friend who
comes to visit his aunt in Maycomb each summer
Tom Robinson – a respectable black man accused of raping a
white woman
Calpurnia – the Finches’ black cook
"Mockingbirds don't do one
thing but make music for us to
enjoy. They don't eat up
people's gardens, don't nest in
corncribs, they don't do one
thing but sing their hearts out
for us. That's why it's a sin to
kill a mockingbird."
Respond to the following, then pass on to another
student and have them respond to what you wrote.
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How do you define prejudice? Give some specific
examples of prejudice in action (other than racism).
The mockingbird is a symbol in TKAM. Now that you
know the basic plot of the story, predict what you
think it might symbolize.
Chapter 1-4 Reflection
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In your journal, answer the following questions:
As the novel begins, we are introduced to the town of Maycomb and its inhabitants
through the recollections of the narrator, Jean Louise Finch (Scout).
a) What does Scout tell us about the history of the town? What is life like there when
Scout is growing up?
b) What do we learn about the history of Scout’s family? How is this history linked with
that of Maycomb?
c) Briefly relate the history of the Radleys. What do you find odd about them? In what
ways do the Radleys differ from the Finches?
Dill’s curiosity about Boo Radley sparks a series of attempted encounters with this
mysterious, invisible neighbour. Examine each of the following “encounters” with Boo, and
answer the questions below:
the dare
the runaway tire
the new game
a) What do the children find so fascinating about Boo Radley?
b) What is the children’s motive in each of these incidents?
c) What evidence is given to illustrate that their actions are not going unnoticed?