Harper Lee is an author that most people know of due to her writing controversial novels and her novels also being classified as classics. It seems like most middle school and high school book lists consist of Lee’s most famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which is about a single father with two children, the Finches, who fights for the rights and lives of black Americans. When the novel was published, it was considered very controversial because it dealt with white Americans fighting for black Americans, which was not the norm at the time the book was published in 1960. Her novel To Kill a Mockingbird was not her only controversial novel though; she released a second novel titled Go Set a Watchman in 2015 which is also about the Finches, just when the children are adults, and with a twist that the beloved audience of Lee’s first novel do not approve of ever so slightly. Although the books are very different with the aging of characters and opposing views from the characters in the first novel, there is one theme that is very prominent in both novels. The common theme between the novels is gender equality. Harper Lee uses gender inequality in both novels to show her readers …show more content…
When she stayed in Alabama, she lived with her sister who took care of her legal and financial affairs. Lee was very involved in her church and community and became famous for avoiding the press as a celebrity. She even went so far as to only donate to charitable causes if she was able to do so anonymously. About nine years before Lee passed away, she had a stroke which brought on numerous health issues including limited vision and the loss of her hearing. She was moved to an assisted living facility where her sister told the staff that books were one of the most important things in her life, so Lee was given a magnifying glass and was able to continue to
Lee started out in a loving home, that turned into her running away from home at the age of fifteen. Lee became well known with drugs and went on to having a son. Lillian Rose Lee was kidnapped one day while walking along the road and was held captive for eleven years. Since then Lee has begun to live out her dreams(Bush). Even after captivity, Lee decided to continue her life in a positive way. Living life the way a person wants to should be an individual 's main priority, and Lillian Lee is a prime example of this and shows that life really does go on. In an effort to change her life for the better, Lee knew she had to make major changes within herself. One article about Lee’s life after captivity says, “Knight legally changed her name to Lillian Rose Lee and has become an advocate for victims of abuse and violence(Jones).” Michelle Knight, or Lillian Rose Lee, has become a major survivor from numerous events, and had the courage to make a commitment of changing her name. Lee helps to let other victims know that life will be okay. Lillian Rose Lee’s life obstacles are not over yet though, she still has many more to come and she knows it. Lillian Lee will probably never have children or see her son again due to the fact that he was adopted while she was in captivity, but she has decided to not let that stand in her way of living her life. She has rode a motorcycle, recorded her first single, and dedicates her time to helping survivors(Jones). Therefore, instead of dwelling on the past, Lee has decided to be happy and make her dreams come true. For Lillian Rose Lee, life still goes on and seems to be going in her
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most influential books of all times. It has been argued that this book is an autobiography contrary to most beliefs the book is not. Although the book was strongly influenced by her childhood. Harper Lee’s mother was Frances Cunningham Finch. Lee uses all three of her mother’s names for characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. When Lee was in nursery, she met a boy called Truman Streckfus. They got very close and the two bonded instantly. Lee based her character of Dill, the oddly articulate kid, on her good friend Truman. ("To Kill A," 1962).
America has always been a country with different cultures, races, and people. Only, not everyone has been accepting of different kinds of people. A persons thoughts on another person can differ depending on a person's race, gender, or age. In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, racial equality is nonexistent. The African Americans were treated like they weren’t people, and were totally isolated from the Maycomb, Alabama society. America will never achieve true racial and social equality because people are ignorant, have a history of being prejudiced, and are unjust.
Harper Lee was the youngest of four children, a situation that often made her feel it was necessary to act out: “As a child, Harper Lee was an unruly tomboy. She fought on the playground. She talked back to teachers. She was bored with school and resisted any sort of conformity” (Stark). Her sister, Alice, who was fifteen years older, agreed with this description, admitting that Harper “isn’t much of a conformist” (Shields 2). In fact, Harper tried her best to be incongruous and not blend in with the other kids. She was often thought of as a social outcast to people who didn’t know her. Countless would agree that she often acted impetuously and without thought. She had not the restraint and self control as a child should, and often caused harm t...
How would you feel if you were a Woman that lived in the HARSH 1930’s? Women back then worked for ages and didn’t even get payed a dollar. A women’s life was very hard and some people wanted it to change. Women in the Novel “to kill a Mockingbird” were treated like this every day. Women were expected to come home and do everything like cleaning and making dinner and if they had children take care of them after they finished working. They had to make sure that dinner was made for the whole family. They had to make sure that the house was clean. Women had many responsibilities at home and when they were working. Women were expected to be a housewife and after work. Women believed they were betting treated unfairly in many different ways from how much they get payed to what they can do in the “Real
'Democracy,' she said. 'Does anybody have a definition?' ... 'Equal rights for all, special privileges for none' (Lee 248).
In most countries, women only earn between 60 and 75% of men’s wages, for the same work. Sexism is still a problem in today’s society, but it has improved since Scout’s generation in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Scout believes from an early age that girls aren’t good, and that she can avoid the judgement that comes with being a girl by not acting like one. Being a girl for Scout is less a matter of what she's born with and more a matter of what she does. Scout’s elders influence her perception of womanhood by putting preconceived sexist views in her head. In “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee shows the reader how all women are expected to act lady like and be proper through the actions of Mrs. Dubose, Jem, and Atticus.
This quote is significant because it shows the gender roles that is used in the Finches home. After Aunt Alexandra came over to visit for a few weeks/months, many gender roles were changed. Aunt Alexandra felt like the head of the house, because she is trying to put the pride of the family back in her brother’s house. She was so consisted of changing the roles in the house. She wanted Scout to become the girl that every female should be, and wanted the family pride to once come alive in Maycomb, after Atticus made the decision of helping a black man. In her time period, female were discriminated and man were superior to women. Women were well educated back during the Great Depression, but wasn’t that superior to the men because they didn’t had their rights back there.
Nelle Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been considered one of the classic works of American literature. To Kill A Mockingbird is the work ever published by Nelle Harper Lee, and it brought her great fame. However, Nelle Harper Lee has published several other articles in popular magazines. Nelle Harper Lee is not an individual who desires to be in the light and little is known about her personal life. At the time it is believed she is possible working on her memoirs. The fictional work of To Kill A Mockingbird plots many elements close to real events in America’s struggle over civil rights.
Lee had said that the Civil Rights Movement influenced her a lot, she saw how black people were treated and she knew it was not right and wanted to do something about it. She greatly wanted to influence the society so she wrote “How to Kill a Mockingbird” .
The novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, is known a southern gothic novel. This novel is categorized as such because the text contains characteristics of this literary style; such as, grotesque situations and sinister events, disturbing or eccentric characters, and ambivalent gender roles. All these characteristics help with the flow of the story. Like in To Kill A Mockingbird, in The Book of Daniel by author E.L. Doctorow, through the usage of postmodern writing, he tells the story. We can categorize this novel The Book of Daniel as a postmodern work of literature, within the novel we find evidence of pastiche, hyper reality and fragmentation; all of these which make the novel a postmodern text. All of which set the tone of the story being told to the audience.
Arthur convinces her to go see her mother before she heads out of town, but she is only greeted with coldness. Lee tells her mother she loves her even after she beat her. Her mother is cold and aloof and responds by telling her she will be praying for her. What a tragic, missed opportunity. However, Lee can be at peace knowing she did her part and attempted to remedy the rift. At this time it was not to be, but as we see Lee smile while looking out onto the road ahead of her, one can’t help but see that renewal is in the air and life has just begun for this impressive child of
Gender Roles and Feminism in Killing a Mockingbird. When the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was written by Harper Lee, the Southern United States was still clinging tightly to traditional values. Southern societies pressured men to behave as gentlemen, and women were expected to be polite and wear dresses. These stringent gender roles were adhered to in small southern towns because they were isolated from the more progressive attitudes in other areas of the United States.
But first, Lee admits that it was in high school when he was fourteen years old that he lost his faith in God. In his biology class, he was taught Darwin’s Theory of evolution. That theory made sense to him and gave him a reason to abandon his belief in Christianity. In junior high, his parents had took him to a Protestant Church. He pretended to learn because he knew the Pastor would help him our if he didn’t recite the verses right. He was working on being confirmed as a member of that church. He did become a member and that made his parents happy because they both were believers in God.
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama. She is the youngest of four children, which is why she says she has a knack for writing. She devoted her life to writing and even gave up other jobs that she loved like working for the airline company and going to college. Her first attempt at writing “To Kill a Mocking Bird” was declined by every publisher, because she only wrote a series of short stories. Upon revising the book, she made it into one of the best selling novels around. She was even congratulated by those publishers that said she would never be able to write books well enough. That was all the motivation that she needed.