To Kill A Mockingbird Critical Lens

Mark Twain believes that people should "write what [they] know" ("A Quote.."). Some classic books tell stories the reader cannot imagine experiencing, but the book allows the reader to get an inside perspective to make the book seem like a memory of their own, such as David Copperfield, Of Mice and Men, On The Road, and The Diary of a Young Girl. Classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird tell stories of prejudice that most cannot imagine happening in today's society. Yet, if Mark Twain's advice holds true, then the author of To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - should have told the story through what she already knew (and that is exactly what she did). Harper Lee wrote her novel with the specific setting and conflicts because of what she has been through, her experiences in young life, and her personal perspective on racism. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, starts by introducing Scout Finch, aged six at the onset of the novel, and her older brother, Jem, who live in the tired town of Maycomb, who invest lots of time to creep on their reclusive neighbor, Boo Radley, with the help of their friend Dill. When Atticus, the siblings father, respected

Harper Lee grew up in a town populated by only twenty two thousand people (which is much smaller than it sounds). This small Alabama town and its inhabitants were later represented in her story. People closer to Lee in her childhood life include her neighbor, Truman Capote. It is said that Dill, an eccentric boy in the novel, is based off of Ms. Lee's friend and colleague, Truman. Their friendship has been traced back to 1928, when Capote moved to Alabama to live with his aunts next door to Lee. Ms. Lee's father was a liberal lawyer (among other things) with tenacious opinions on justice, and often defended African Americans, which led the way to Scout's father, Atticus, and his unforgettable moral virtues