Mob Mentality In To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird Historical Paper “Millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes” (McCabe 12). The Great Depression was a devastating times for many and Harper Lee was inspired to write this book because of this time. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee used many connections to actual historical events throughout the book. In particular, Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and the Scottsboro trial are big influences on the book.

The first influence on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is the Jim Crow laws. The Jim Crow laws were laws against whites and colored using the same bathroom, drinking fountains, riding the same bus, going to the same school, staying in the same house, and many more (“Jim Crow laws”). The Whites said they had reasons

Mob mentality is unique behavioral factor characteristics that emerges when people are in large groups (Smith). When the word mob is heard, people usually think of an aggressive, chaotic group of people (Smith). People act differently in big groups of people. They do this because they want to fit in (Smith). People and animals tend to do what others are doing around them are doing (Smith). Also, in the photograph, I see many people with the same emotions. This shows people also do what others are doing because of peer pressure (Beitler). Some may not think it is right to be there and be proud of that but they want to fit in. There are few different examples for mob mentality. One example is when crowds suddenly begin rushing in one direction (Smith). Another example is, in the picture taken by Beitler, you can see when a few people are doing something wrong, others will think it’s okay because they will blend in and not get caught. They all think it is okay to be there because the police can’t catch them all. Mob mentality can be seen in To Kill a Mockingbird in many ways. Smith said that mobs tend to do what the people around them are doing. In the book, the mob went to the jail and they all did what the others were doing because they thought if they were all doing it, nobody would get in trouble because they can’t catch all of them (Lee 202 and 204-206). Mob Mentality was a big part in the book,

The Scottsboro trials were unfair. This all came upon when nine black boys got off a train and two women accused them of rape. They weren’t even all on the same train as the women (Anderson). They had three trials all together. The first trial was April 6-9, 1931 and eight of the nine of them were sentenced to death. On November 7, 1932, the United States Supreme Court ordered new trials for the boys because they did not have the proper legal representation. The second trial took place on March 27, 1933. For the first defendant in this trial, it took two weeks instead of a few hours like the other trial. They did a significant amount of investigating and even a friend of the women who said she got raped said that she did not get raped. The first defendant was still found guilty of rape and sentenced to execution (Johnson). The second defendant was also found guilty but his execution was delayed pending appeal (Johnson). During the trials, the black boys were in prison. Finally, on April 1, 1935, the United States Supreme Court reversed the convictions of the boys. However, this was not the end of this trial. On May 1, 1935, Victoria Price, one of the women who accused the boys of rape, swore out new warrants against the nine men (Johnson). Both the Scottsboro case and the Tom Robinson case had evidence that proved they were innocent, but they were both proven guilty (Anderson). In To Kill a