Historical influences on the novel To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Depression was a major influence in To Kill a Mockingbird. The Great Depression was a “time of devastation” (McCabe 12). During the Great Depression people were struggling to pay bills (McCabe 12). In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee used historical events as inspiration. The book displays relations to the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the racism in the Scottsboro trials. The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow Laws. These laws were in effect only in the southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s (Pilgrim). The Jim Crow laws are extremely unfair towards black people (Pilgrim). They were exceptionally limiting towards them (Pilgrim). The laws would
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Mob mentality is when people in mobs lose control of what is morally right. Mobs are large groups of people that usually create mischief. The crowd usually does this, because they think they will not get caught (Smith). They believe this because they think if there are many people it will be harder to catch them (Smith). Edmonds says, “being in the midst of a mob can be exciting and powerful.” Therefore, many will enter a mob just to feel the rush (Edmonds). Peer pressure is another reason one might join a mob (Smith). A mob’s behaviors are usually destructive. Most of the time when in a mob one might cause harm to someone or something (Edmonds). Vandalism is a common result of a mob (Smith). To Kill a Mockingbird displays mob mentality. As Smith illustrates, most people in mobs believe they will not be caught, because there are multiple people. When Atticus was at the jail, a mob came to try and create trouble (Lee 202-207). The group members most likely thought they would not be caught, because they came as a group. Mob mentality was a major influence in To Kill a Mockingbird, however so was the Scottsboro