How Did Society Influence Harper Lee In To Kill A Mockingbird

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. I heard her say it’s time somebody taught ‘em a lesson, they were

For example, on page 73, DIll says “No sir, just with matches.” In other words, Dill is too young to ‘gamble’ and play with cars, so he says he was using matches instead. The author includes this fact to emphasize Dill’s innocence because he is too young to play with cars, let alone understand societal problems. Also, on page 265, Dill says “It was just him I couldn’t stand...That old Mr. Gilmer doin’ him thataway, talking so hateful to him {Tom Robinson}.” That is to say, Dill feels Mr. Gilmer does not have the right to talk to down to Tom just because of his race. The evidence highlights how Dill is made less innocent, by being exposed to racism in the courthouse. In summary, society shapes Dill to be more aware of societal issues and, in turn, less innocent by exposing him to the problems first

Society makes Jem more aware of racial problems and class differences. For example, on page 285, Jem asks Atticus “How could they do it, how could they?” and Atticus replies “I don’t know but they did it. They’ve done it before and they did it tonight and they’ll do it again and when they do it - seems only the children weep.” In other words, Jem realizes how Tom is convicted just because of his race. This conveys how Jem finds out the world isn’t perfect, and racial divisions are severe in the South. Another instance is on page 302, when Jem tells Scout “You know something, Scout? I’ve got it all figured out, now. I’ve thought about it a lot lately and I’ve got it figured out. There’s four kinds of people in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewell’s down in the dump, and the Negroes.” Basically, Jem is saying he is beginning to understand the class divisions in Maycomb. The evidence highlights how society teaches Jem the class differences in Maycomb. To sum up, society showed Jem the harsh reality of racial prejudice and class divisions in