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How Does Lee Present The Great Depression In To Kill A Mockingbird

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To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel written by Harper Lee, portrays the crooked society people lived in during the early 1930’s. The Great Depression was a result of the crash of the stock market on behalf of the enormous use of credit that was not able to be payed back. It left millions under the poverty line. The Great Depression can be found in many aspects of To Kill a Mockingbird with families, the black community, and the agricultural decline of funds. Harper Lee depicted the Great Depression accurately in To Kill a Mockingbird due to the fact of how she portrayed the obstacles that the civilians of Maycomb went through such as farming, food, and financial poverty.
The crash of the stock market was deeply afflicted with the black community on behalf of the reasoning that unemployment rates went up to grant bigger chances of job availability for higher class citizens. “By 1932, approximately half of black Americans were out of work. In some Northern cities, whites called for blacks to be fired from any jobs as long as there were …show more content…

“Suicide rates rose, as did reported cases of malnutrition. Prostitution was on the rise as desperate women sought ways to pay the bills. Health care in general was not a priority for many Americans, as visiting the doctor was reserved for only the direst of circumstances. Alcoholism increased with Americans seeking outlets for escape, compounded by the repeal of prohibition in 1933” (Social and Cultural Effects of the Depression). Being in debt and under the poverty line was too much for some people which resulted in suicide, alcohol addiction, and trying to find escapes. People became mentally ill and emotionally unjust trying to find different alternatives to money, leaving many to their last resorts of giving up on life. The Great Depression not only affected people economically wise but it also affected them

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