To Kill A Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Harper Lee• American writer, awarded Pulitzer Prize

in 1961

• 34 when published; her first and only novel

• Descendent of Robert E. Lee, the Southern Civil War general

• Lee’s father was an attorney; she studied law at the University of Alabama

• http://www.biography.com/people/harper-lee-9377021/videos

drawn from Author’s life

• 1930s in Maycomb, Alabama (fictional town)

• Lee born and raised in Monroeville, Alabama, a small town that inspired her writing

• Finch (Scout, Atticus, Gem) Lee's mother’s maiden name

• Character of Dill based on Truman Capote, Lee's childhood friend

Main Characters

Tom Robinson

Atticus Finch

Protagonist:Jean Louise “Scout” Finch

Antagonistic Force

• Intense hatred and racist attitudes

• Whites felt superior to blacks

• Overt violent racist acts

• Based on real attitudes of many southern whites during this time in American history

The Ewells

Mrs. Dubose

Person vs. Society

Jim Crow = racial caste system operated primarily, in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism.

Segregation was federal law

Rosa Parks

Sat down to “stand up”

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks refused to obey bus driver James F. Blake's order that she give up her seat in the colored section to a white passenger, after the white section was filled.

South Boston &Little Rock 9: Arkansas

41 years ago (1970s) Boston Busing/Desegregation Project -- goal was equity in education, regardless of race and class but instead racial slurs by public and police officers -- tensions -- spitting; bricks, golf balls thrownThe Little Rock Nine were a group of African American students enrolled inLittle Rock Central High School in 1957.

KKKKu Klux Klan

The "Ku Klux Klan" name was used by a numerous independent local groups opposing the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation, especially in the 1950s and 1960s.Members adopted white costumes: robes, masks, and conical hats, designed to be outlandish and terrifying, and to hide their identities.

Violent Acts Attributed to KKK

•Birmingham, AL, church bombing•Four girls killed

16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on Sunday, September 15, 1963 as an act of racially motivated terrorism.September 16, Alabama church honors girls with statue

Emmett Till Murder

•14-year-old boy•Visits Mississippi from Chicago•Whistles at Caucasian woman

•Two found acquitted of kidnapping and murder•Later confessed to killing

The Civil Rights Movement

Violent Reactions towards Civil Rights Activists

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.•Advocated for equality, peace and civil rights•Assassinated in 1968, at age of 39•50th anniversary of “dream” speech commemorated by President

TKaM ThemesLoss and suffering of innocent people

Inequalities due to race and social classMan’s inhumanity to man

Resisting the status quo by taking a stand

Are you willing to stand up for what is right even if it means standing alone?