Harper Lee: A One Hit Wonder

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Nelle Harper Lee grew up with a front row seat to the world’s capacity for cruelty and injustice. Being the daughter of a man in law, Lee saw firsthand how African Americans were treated in the 1930’s. In her critically acclaimed sociological novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, beloved father and lawyer Atticus Finch is based loosely off Lee’s idealized image of her father, Amasa Lee. Atticus Finch’s challenges similarly resemble those of her father’s as one of the novel’s biggest plots takes place in the courtroom. Lee took her childhood memories of her father’s court cases and put them on paper. To Kill a Mockingbird ananlyzes the racism and prejudice of its’ set time. While Lee claims To Kill a Mockingbird is in no way autobiographical, her exposure to the legal system and the time frame in which she grew up played a major part in the novel that would change her life.
Nelle Harper Lee (Nelle being her Grandmother Ellen’s name backwards) was born on 28 April 1926 to Amasa Coleman Lee and Francis Cunningham Finch Lee. She grew up in Monroeville, Alabama with her three siblings Alice, Louise, and Edwin. Her mother was a homemaker while her father practiced law. Amasa Coleman Lee worked in Alabama legislature from 1927 to 1939. Until the late 1950’s he strongly believed in segregationalism, but when the civil rights movement and protests began to come into effect, he had a change of heart. (“Harper Lee Biography”)
Lee was described as an “unruly” child. She resisted any type of structure or discipline. She was a tomboy, was involved in a fight or two, and loved the outdoors. She was lucky enough to have a teacher, Gladys Watson Burkett, who could capture her attention and sparked her interest in English and writing. (“Harper Lee Biogra...

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...y finally have a chance to meet, the cliche, “never judge a book by its’ cover” comes into play as they realize he is no monster, but just a gentle soul in need of a friend.
Nelle Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless classic. After a year of hard work and dedication, her one and only novel was published, selling over 30 million copies to this day and even won her a Pulitzer Prize. The sociological novel depicts the racism and prejudice of the 1930’s through events based loosely off Lee’s own childhood. It teaches lessons of youth, innocence, judgement and that the color of one’s skin should be no reason for punishment. “Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 93).

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