Written by Angelia Greiner Table of Contents

Written by: Angelia Greiner

Table of Contents • • • Harper Lee’s early years The 1930 s “Deep South” Harper Lee’s adult years Civil Rights movement Writing To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee’s Early Years • Born Nelle Harper Lee, spring 1926 • Grew up in Monroeville, Alabama • Youngest of four children

Monroeville, Alabama Map

Parents • Father: Amasa Coleman Lee • Mother: Frances Finch Lee • Father: practiced law in Monroeville • Father: editor of The Monroe Journal

Childhood • Personality • Childhood friend Capote

Harper Lee’s Family • Position in the community • Responsibility for the community • Alice Lee

Alice Lee “Alice Lee has been a Rock of Gibraltar for this commission, '' said Armistead Harper, a 21 -year member of the commission. "She has guided this board with her wisdom, fairness and intelligence. When we needed proper guidance for Monroeville, we got it from Alice Lee, ” Harper said. “Because of her knowledge of the historic background of Monroeville and her legal background, she could recognize problems we would face and find a fair solution. ”

Father and Daughter “It was my plan for her to become a member of our law firm – but it just wasn’t meant to be. She went to New York to be a writer. ” —Amasa Lee, 1961 Single click speaker to hear audio clip >>>> Peck

Harper Lee’s Adult Years • Attended Huntingdon College • Attended the University of Alabama to study law

University Years • Worked for student publications • Editor of Rammer. Jammer • Attended Oxford University

1950 -1957 • Worked for Eastern Airlines in NYC • Pursued writing career full time in NYC • Wrote and submitted To Kill a Mockingbird

1957 -1959 • To Kill A Mockingbird manuscript rejected • Research assistant for Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood

The Writer Emerges! • Published To Kill A Mockingbird • Received Pulitzer Prize for novel

Novel Goes to the Movies • Did not initially attract producers • Gregory Peck starred as Atticus Finch Single click speaker to hear audio clip >>>>

1930 s Statistics • Facts about the 1930 s: – Population: 123, 188, 000 in 48 states – Life Expectancy: Male, 58: 1; Female, 61: 6 – Average annual salary: $1, 368 – Unemployment rises to 25% – Car Sales: 2, 787, 400 – Food Prices: Milk, 14 cents a qt. ; Bread, 9 cents a loaf – Round Steak, 42 cents a pound – Lynchings: 21

Social Order • Wealthy and educated • Working-class whites • Nonworking-class whites • African Americans

Jim Crow Laws • Racial caste system • Perpetuated racism

The Deep South • Social order • Jim Crow laws • Southern towns

The Deep South Map

African American Row Houses

Affluent White’s Homes

Monroeville Demographics: 1930 Median value (Dollars) All owners 2, 359 Native white owners 2, 833 Negro owners 0 Rented non-farm homes 1, 278 Rental under $15 1, 052 $15 to $29 90 $30 to $49 21 $50 to $99 2 $100 and over 2 Not reported 111

Scottsboro Trial • On March 25, 1931, a freight train was stopped in Paint Rock, Alabama • Nine young African American men arrested • Two white women accused men of raping them on the train

The Scottsboro Trial v. Tom Robinson’s Trial • Scottsboro: • Robinson: – 1930 s event – Northern Alabama – Southern Alabama – The poor white status of accusers was important – The poor white status of Mayella was important

The Scottsboro Trial v. Tom Robinson’s Trial • Scottsboro: • Robinson: – James E. Horton, judge, overturned the guilty jury verdict – Atticus, lawyer, defends the African-American man – All-white jury – All poor, white jury – The jury ignored evidence— that the women suffered no injuries, for example – The jury ignores evidence— that Tom has a useless left arm, for example Horton Atticus and Tom

Civil Rights Movement • Influenced Harper Lee

Influence on Harper Lee • The Law and Jim Crow • Civil Rights Movement • Events in Alabama Bus boycott Montgomery, AL Autherine Lucy tries to attend graduate school Univ. of Alabama Martin Luther King’s rise to leadership

Timeline of Events • 1954: Brown v. Topeka, Kansas Board of Education case • 1955: Young African American brutally murdered by whites • 1955: Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus boycott Parks

Brown v. Board Video Single click screen to view video

Timeline of Events • 1956: Autherine Lucy first African American admitted to University of Alabama • 1956: Autherine Lucy forced to flee University of Alabama campus • University’s Board of Trustees barred her from campus • 1957: Federal troops sent to Little Rock, Arkansas to protect nine African American students enter first integrated school

Letter from a Birmingham Jail “An unjust law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on itself. This is difference made legal. On the other hand, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. ” —Martin Luther King, 1963 Single click speaker to hear audio clip >>>>

Writing To Kill A Mockingbird • Themes • Viewpoint • Characters • Major Conflicts

Themes • Moral nature of man • Innocence to experience • How children learn morality • Social inequality • Vulnerability of innocent

Boo Video Single click screen to view video

Point of View • First person narrative through Scout • “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem’s fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury. ” Single click speaker to hear audio clip >>>>

Town Intro Video Single click screen to view video

Characters Middle-Class Whites – The Finches Working-Class Whites Cunningham Family Non-Working Whites The Ewell Family African Americans Tom Robinson, Calpurnia and Others

Major Characters Jean Louise “Scout” Finch--The narrator and protagonist of the story Atticus Finch--Scout and Jem’s father, a lawyer in Maycomb Arthur “Boo” Radley-- A recluse who never sets foot outside his house Bob Ewell--A drunken, mostly unemployed man Tom Robinson--The black field hand accused of rape Calpurnia--The Finches’ black cook, Calpurnia is a stern disciplinarian Mayella Ewell--Bob Ewell’s abused, lonely, unhappy daughter Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch--Scout’s brother and constant playmate Charles Baker “Dill” Harris--Jem and Scout’s summer neighbor and friend Aunt Alexandra-Atticus’ sister, a strongwilled woman with a fierce devotion to her family. Alexandra is the perfect Southern lady

Minor Characters Link Deas--Tom Robinson’s employer Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose--An elderly, illtempered, racist woman who lives near the Finches Miss Maudie Atkinson--The Finches’ neighbor, a sharp-tongued widow, and an old friend of the family Mr. Dolphus Raymond--A wealthy white man who lives with his black mistress and mulatto children Mr. Underwood--The publisher of Maycomb’s newspaper Walter Cunningham-Son of Mr. Walter Cunningham and classmate of Scout Mr. Walter Cunningham--A poor farmer

Harper Lee v. Scout Finch • She grew up in the 1930 s in a rural Southern Alabama town. • Her father, Amasa Lee, is an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama. • Her father, Atticus Finch, is an attorney who served in the state legislature in Alabama. • Her older brother and young neighbor (Truman Capote) are playmates. • Her older brother (Jem) and young neighbor (Dill) are playmates. • Scout reads before she enters school and reads the Mobile Register newspaper in first grade. • She is eight years old when the trial of Tom Robinson takes place. • Harper Lee is an avid reader as a child. • She is six years old when the Scottsboro trials are widely covered in national, state and local newspapers.

Conflicts • Person versus society • Person versus person • Person versus self “What did your father see in the window, the crime of rape or the best defense to it? Why don’t you tell the truth, child, didn’t Bob Ewell beat you up? ” —Atticus Finch questioning Mayella on the witness stand

Mayella Video Single click screen to view video

Harper Lee’s Style • Allusions • Idioms • Colloquial Language • Autobiographical • Symbolism

Allusions “nothing to fear but fear itself” Battle of Hastings Dracula John Wesley “Let the cup pass from you” Rosetta stone Indian-head penny Willam Jennings Bryan Ivanhoe Andrew Jackson Stonewall Jackson

Idioms “get Miss Maudie’s goat” “walked on eggs” “set my teeth permanently on edge” “break camp” “when the chips are down” “he had seen the light” “looked daggers” “blue in the face” “into the limelight”

Symbolism The Mockingbird Tom Robinson Boo Radley

Mockingbird Video Single click screen to view video

Colloquial Language “Hush your mouth! Don’t matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house’s yo’ comp’ny, and don’t you let me catch you remarkin’ on their ways like you was so high and mighty!” —Calpurnia “I scurried to my room and went to bed. Uncle Jack was a prince of a fellow not to let me down. But I never figured out how Atticus knew I was listening, and it was not until many years later that I realized he wanted me to hear every word he said. ” —Scout “It ain’t honest but it’s mighty helpful to folks. Secretly, Miss Finch, I’m not much of a drinker, but you see they could never, never understand that I live like I do because that’s the way I want to live. ” —Mr. Raymond

35 th Anniversary of Novel “Please spare ‘Mockingbird’ an Introduction. As a reader I loathe Introductions. To novels I associate Introductions with long-gone authors and works that are brought back into print after decades of Interment… “Mockingbird” has never been out of print and I am still alive… It still says what it has to say; it has managed to survive the years without preamble. ” —Harper Lee Single click speaker to hear audio clip >>>>

Harper Lee: An Enigma “But I think we can learn a lot about her by reading To Kill A Mockingbird. To think it is more autobiographical than we realize… I suspect that she is Scout, that Atticus Finch is her father, and that her dear friend Truman Capote is Dill. That is probably all she wants us to know, and all we need to know. ” —Judith Handschuh

In Conclusion: Harper Lee’s Legacy • To Kill a Mockingbird • Gives us new appreciation for our childhood experiences • Shows us how one’s sense of right and wrong is learned • Allows us to experience destructiveness of hatred in society

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