ipl-logo

Historical Influences On To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

756 Words4 Pages

Historical Influences on To Kill a Mockingbird
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird took place during the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a time of many hardships and devastations (McCabe 12). During this time there was a great decline in economics and a rising level of unemployment (McCabe 12). Many real-life events helped inspire Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Three connections to the book are the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials.

The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were were anti-black laws used by Whites to keep Blacks in the second class status (Pilgrim). The laws operated between 1877 and the mid-1960’s (Pilgrim). The idea that Whites …show more content…

Racism is the prejudice discrimination of a race based on the idea that one race is superior (Routledge). One reason people turn to racism is because they want to boost their self esteem or group themselves (Routledge). It makes some people feel better to put others down, so they target those easiest to put down (Routledge). The Scottsboro trials were a one day trial involving nine black boys (Anderson). The nine boys were getting off a train when two white women yelled out “rape” (Anderson). The jury consisted of all white men and eight of the nine boys were unrighteously sentenced to the electric chair and the last boy was sentenced to life in prison (Anderson). Racism can be found in To Kill a Mockingbird. When the two women yelled rape, people automatically pointed at the black boys even though white men also got off the train (Anderson). This is similar to the book because Mayella yelled rape and no one thought for a second that Tom was innocent until after the trial (Lee). All evidence lead to Mayella’s injuries being from Bob Ewell, but because Tom was black and therefore an easier target, he was found guilty (Lee 282). Racism had influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a

Show More
Related

Compare And Contrast Machaut And John Dowland

257 Words | 2 Pages

Guillame de Machaut, unlike John Dowland, has a well-known composition called Agnus Dei, and it is a prayer for mercy and peace. Machaut created music for the church and was the first to do in a polyphonic approach. Agnus Dei became a staple in the mass ordinary, as it referred to “speaking of christ”. This song was meant to appeal to the mind and not so much the ears, it was a revamp on the Middle Age Gregorian chant. John Dowland was from 1563-1626, so he is from the late Renaissance period in which he primarily wrote melancholy songs based off of popular consort songs and dance music from that time period.

Read More

Tkm Theme Essay

830 Words | 4 Pages

TKM Theme Essay Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird takes place during the Great Depression in the small town of Maycomb in Alabama. Scout and Jem live in what they think is a good community. From what they know, everyone fits into the community except Boo Radley, a mysterious neighbor. They think this until the trial of Tom Robinson, an African American that is accused a raping a white women, takes place. The kids see something they have never noticed about their community before.

Read More

Dialectical Journal For To Kill A Mockingbird

766 Words | 4 Pages

TKM Extra Credit 1. To Kill a Mockingbird setting is the 1930’s. The story provides a lot of textual evidence to support the main idea. I feel the main idea is segregation between Whites and Blacks. Racial segregation is alluded to, which can provide.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Ethos Pathos Logos

468 Words | 2 Pages

To Kill a Mockingbird was written by Harper Lee in 1962 during the Civil Rights movement, but was set in Alabama in the 1930s. Lee’ father, who was a lawyer in the South during a time of racial prejudice paralleling Atticus, defended an innocent Black men in a case he later lost. Similar to Atticus, Lee’s father lost the case because his client was Black. Having experienced this racial prejudice first hand, Lee chose to write this novel to highlight the racial injustice that took place during the 1930s and the many effects that occured from the racism. Lee uses ethos and logos in Atticus’s speech to the jury, to inform the reader of the injustices of racism.

Read More

How Did Society Influence Harper Lee In To Kill A Mockingbird

968 Words | 4 Pages

Society shaped Harper Lee to write To Kill a Mockingbird because she grew up in an extremely racist time period. To illustrate this, on biography.com¹, it reads “Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama.” In other words, Lee was born in the heart of the south in 1926, a time before equality was widespread. The evidence highlights that Lee grew up in a very racist period in the south, including segregation and the famous Scottsboro Trials. Another example is on page 331, Scout says “Well, coming out of the courthouse that night Miss Gates was - she was goin’ down the steps in front of us, you musta not seen her - she was talking to Miss Stephanie Crawford.

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Historical Influences

1019 Words | 5 Pages

Historical influences on To Kill a Mockingbird The Great Depression was a time of devastation and uncertainty (McCabe 12). The great depression was a time when the stock market crashed causing many people to lose their jobs and homes. This novel is based on the time around the Great Depression. There were many historical influences in the book To Kill a Mockingbird such as the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality and the Scottsboro trials.

Read More

Examples Of Mob Mentality In To Kill A Mockingbird

682 Words | 3 Pages

The Great Depression was the time period in which Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird was set and was a time of economic instability and unpredictability (McCabe 12). Lee used many historical events and influences in her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In the book, there are direct links to the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trials. The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws.

Read More

What Are The Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And The Great Depression

1182 Words | 5 Pages

The famous book To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee, demonstrates a trial set not only during segregation, but also during the Great Depression. Harper Lee uses these events to make the conflict in the story much more intense. Since then, many similarities can be found between the Great Depression and recent events, including an impact on family lives, jobs, and finance. Specifically, the issue of the Great Depression greatly deepens the conflict of the novel.

Read More

Examples Of Mob Mentality In To Kill A Mockingbird

1450 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout the trial new evidence against the two women’s claims started to appear and one of the women even says that it did not happen and that they had lied(Johnson). Eight of the nine are sentenced to death and the ninth is declared mistrial for his young age (Johnson). This is very similar to the book To Kill a Mockingbird, for countless reasons. Both of the situations are in the 1930’s during the Great Depression a time of large amounts of racism. Both of these trials revolve around racism and prejudice, and without it the trial would have been just another ordinary they are right and they are wrong.

Read More

Similarities Between To Kill A Mockingbird And The 1930s

691 Words | 3 Pages

Amie Betzold 2B Pixler To Kill a Mockingbird The 1930s was a tough time especially because of all the crime and poverty. To Kill a Mockingbird explains many different types of problems it shows a little girl’s point of perspective on them. It has many aspects of the past and its historical events.

Read More

Examples Of Jim Crow Laws In To Kill A Mockingbird

653 Words | 3 Pages

The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird are the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were cruel to colored people. “Jim Crow laws were an official effort to keep African Americans separate from Whites in the southern United States for many years” (“Jim Crow Laws”1). The Jim Crow laws were put in place to keep Blacks below Whites. People thought that they needed theses laws because they did not believe that there where equal to them.

Read More

Examples Of Delusions In To Kill A Mockingbird

950 Words | 4 Pages

The message of people’s delusions of race and refusal to

Read More

To Kill A Mockingbird Geographic Location

771 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, geographic location, cultural and social values impacted the way people live. As the story is set in Maycomb, Alabama in the late 1930’s, following the great depression the way people lived had to change to adapt to the new living situations. Geographic location, economic and cultural values played a huge role in adapting. Racism is still a huge part of society today, but throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the racism shown, just shows how bad it can really get. Maycomb Alabama is in the deep south.

Read More

Similarities Between Harper Lee And To Kill A Mockingbird

218 Words | 1 Pages

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there are many similarities between the narrator, Scout, and the author, Harper Lee. For instance, both grew up in the time of the great depression with little money to do extra things; therefore, they relied on their imaginations to entertain them for hours (Haggerty) . Comparatively, both were tomboys in their youths and grew up in small towns where girls were expected to wear dresses and act like a lady. Also, both Harper Lee and Scout both grew up with their fathers being lawyers for their town and would often hear of cases that they worked on (“Harper Lee”) . Similarly, when writing her book a “mad dog warning” was released, no doubt giving the idea for the episode of the mad dog Tim Robinson.

Read More

The Civil Rights Movement In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

1128 Words | 5 Pages

Although the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, took place in the 1930s, it ties closely into the Civil Rights Movement. This novel displayed the obvious superiority whites had over blacks. It took place during a time when colored people faced discrimination, prejudice, and racism. When the book was published in the 1960s, it made whites furious, resulting in a lot of controversy. Harper Lee had a goal when writing, she wanted to show the relation between actual events that happened during the civil rights and incorporate it into her own novel to show how cruel colored people were treated, specifically when whites accused blacks of doing sinful acts.

Read More

More about Historical Influences On To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Related Topics

Open Document