To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic book by Harper Lee, it explores themes of racism, prejudice, and injustice. The book is set in the 1930s, about the time of the Great Depression, in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. The novel reflects social and political problems at that time. The setting of the book is important to the development of the overall theme as it provides a greater context that explains the events and characters in the story.
The 1930s were a time of economic and social change. The Great Depression had left many people to struggle on their own and racial tensions were high. Jim Crow Laws, which enforced segregation and discrimination towards African Americans were still being used in the South and lots of violence such as lynching was popular. This is reflected throughout the novel in which characters are deeply affected by this.
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This is crucial to the development of the theme as it allows the reader to know firsthand which ways racism and prejudice were used in Maycomb. The novel comes from the point of view of Scout, she is a young girl who is at first unaware of the racism going on in her town. However, as she gets older and becomes more aware of the world around her, Scout begins to see how the community treats the people who don’t look like her.
The readers can see how the lives of African Americans are such as Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of rape, and Calpurnia, who faces discrimination from her neighbors. Atticus Finch said “There’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.” This quote explains how racism exists in this town and how it really affects the lives of African