How Did Harper Lee's Influence On To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird is a very interesting book for young, or old.It is a fictional book with many occurrences having to do with real life events that were happening during the temporal setting of the novel. It has many instances where a young protagonist, her brother, and their friend go on adventures, have fun, and go through some tough times. While that is happening the protagonist’s father is appointed to be the lawyer for a black man accused of raping a white woman in the south during the 1930s. Harper Lee was influenced by real world events, and incorporated them into her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Some of these influences include the infamous trial of the Scottsboro Boys, the murder of a young African American, Emmett Till, and the

Sharecropping was part of the Jim Crow Laws, it was very similar to slavery and a way for the whites to keep the dominance over the blacks alive so to speak. The blacks that worked for the sharecroppers were treated poorly and paid very unfairly for their labor. An example from within the novel would be that Tom Robinson worked for a sharecropper, and it heavily affected the way that he lived his life. A further example would be that during a court session if the courthouse had a balcony that was where the blacks were required to sit; along with that the blacks had to enter through a separate door. This was shown within the novel when Jem, Scout, and Dill snuck into the courthouse through the door meant for black people and the children sat on the balcony with Reverend Sykes and the rest of the colored community. Further in depth, with Jim Crow Laws it was said that blacks were separate but equal. It was very obvious that within the novel blacks were not equal like they should have been. Most of the bad things for blacks in the town of Maycomb, or anywhere in the south were not only part about being separate but also it was that they were not treated equally like they should have been. For example the way that Tom Robinson was treated while he was in jail waiting for his court session, when the Cunningham’s mob came after him for his crime. That most likely would not have happened had he been white. Another example is that the whole situation would not have occurred if Miss Mayella Ewell would not have tried to kiss Tom Robinson causing Bob Ewell to beat her. Even though Jim Crow Laws are not in effect anymore they still have a big role in today’s society. Lastly, throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee used real life events to help her write her novel. These events in comparison to the novel were, The Scottsboro Trials, The Murder of Emmett