Harper Lee is an American novelist that was born in Monroeville, Alabama in 1926. She was born to her mother, Frances, who was a homemaker and her father, Amasa, who was a former newspaper editor and proprietor that also practiced law and served in the Alabama State Legislature from 1926 to 1938. Harper Lee was the youngest of four children. She was a tomboy and an advanced reader as a child. Her best friend was her schoolmate and neighbor, Truman Capote. She went to the Monroe County High School, and it was at this location that she found her love for literature. In 1944, after graduating high school, Lee attended the Huntingdon College in Montgomery. This college was an all-female school. At this school she focused on her studies and her writing as opposed to other girls that focused on fashion. Lee was also a member of the literary honor society. In July of 1960 Lee’s most famous book, To Kill a Mockingbird, was published. To Kill a Mockingbird was an immediate bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961. Following the publishment of her highly acclaimed novel, Lee announced a second novel, but this one was never published. She also spent a lot of her later years helping her childhood friend, Truman Capote, with writing his novel In Cold Blood. As of today Lee lives in solitude and stays separated from the outside world.
Influence of the Mockingbird
Was Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird influenced by her life and events that occurred within it or was it created with her imagination? Lee is an American novelist that is most famous for her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel caught immediate success following its release. This novel that made her famous, as i...
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...ife...the influence you exert is through your own life, and what you've become yourself.”
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold, ed. "Background to To Kill a Mockingbird." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc.
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"Harper Lee Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960. Print.
Moss, Joyce. Literature and Its Times. Vol. 3. N.p.: GALE, n.d. 390-396. Print.
Normey, Robert. "To Kill a Mockingbird." LawNow Oct.-Nov. 2005: 44+. General OneFile. Web.
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Saney, Isaac. "Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web.
26 Mar. 2014 .
To Kill A Mockingbird is a cultural and classic novel wrote by Harper Lee. A connection people believe is that the novel is based off of Harper Lee’s childhood. There are reasons to believe that there is a connection between the book and the author's life.
60.00% of people in the United States were greatly affected by the Great Depression. Experiencing some of the most painful years in history. Harper Lee learned to live through this since she was young . Her novel is connected to real on goings in the 1930s. Lee was seemingly influenced by the misfortunate events such as, the murder of Emmett Till this has caused much reflection and guidance in her writing through particularly one character. Not only was Lee very profound in the Emmett Till murder, but also in the Expectations of women in the South and Scottsboro Trials.
Harper Lee’s only book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is the stereotypical tale of childhood and innocence, yet it successfully incorporates mature themes, like the racism in the South at the time, to create a masterpiece of a work that has enraptured people’s minds and hearts for generations. According to esteemed novelist Wally Lamb, “It was the first time in my life that a book had sort of captured me. That was exciting; I didn’t realize that literature could do that” (111). Scout’s witty narration and brash actions make her the kind of heroine you can’t help but root for, and the events that take place in Maycomb County are small-scale versions of the dilemmas that face our world today. Mockingbird is a fantastically written novel that belongs on the shelves for classic literature that everyone should take the time to read and appreciate for their execution of style and the importance of their content.
Thus, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley are all victims of rumour, humiliation, and prejudice. Firstly, Atticus is humiliated by his family and his neighbourhood because he has stood up to an African American man, and then, is nicknamed “nigger-lover” for his decision. By strong evidence, Tom Robinson is proven innocent of rapping a young white woman, but is still convicted, and then shot to death because he is black. Finally, Arthur Radley is greatly misunderstood because of his mysterious background and is forced to isolate from society to escape the awful and untruthful rumours about him in Maycomb. Through the storytelling of Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley, the reader understands how the mockingbird symbol is used to represent those who are innocent, and have good intentions at heart.
Metress, Christopher. "'To Kill a Mockingbird': Threatening Boundaries." The Mississippi Quarterly 48.2 (1995): 397+. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.
The year was 1960 when Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird was published. It was an immediate success even winning the Pulitzer Prize. The novel was the first published piece for Lee who was not widely known. The story itself was set in the American South during the Great Depression, which Lee was from and lived during that time. The story examined the angst of childhood, morals of society, racism, and the concept of perception.
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...
Racism is a targeted issue in Harper Lee’s 1930s-based novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. In Maycomb County, a fictional town in Alabama, it seemed taboo to be antiracist. When a trial involving a black man accused of raping a local white female, eyebrows are raised and tempers take over the town. At this time, it is highly unlikely for a black man to be acquitted of charges even with a substantial amount of evidence to prove him innocent. With little hope, Tom Robinson is defended by Atticus, a local lawyer. Atticus knows nearly immediately that this case will not end in justice due to the color of Tom Robinson’s skin (Lee, 80).
Miss. Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Moroeville Alabama, where her father practiced as a lawyer and served as a state senator. She grew up as the youngest out of 4 children, and was the only one to pursue a literary career. She received her early education in public schools, and from 1945-1949 she attended University of Alabama, studying law. She moved to New York, without carrying out the requirements for her degree in law, and there worked as an airline reservation clerk. Shortly after, she left her clerk position to concentrate her efforts on her first novel.
Nelle Harper Lee, better known as Harper Lee, was born in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. She is best known for her inspiring novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. One of her best childhood friends was famous
Harper Lee has claimed that her novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was not a directly autobiographical, although it is very evident to think otherwise. Lee grew up in the 1930's era. It was at this time, the stock markets crumbled, leading into The Depression and narrow-minded people ruled the Southern states. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the fictional town of Maycomb County, Alabama; where “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with...” (Lee 11). Like Lee, six year old nar...
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee seems like a complete replica of the lives of people living in a small Southern U.S. town. The themes expressed in this novel are as relevant today as when this novel was written, and also the most significant literary devices used by Lee. The novel brings forward many important themes, such as the importance of education, recognition of inner courage, and the misfortunes of prejudice. This novel was written in the 1930s. This was the period of the “Great Depression” when it was very common to see people without jobs, homes and food. In those days, the rivalry between the whites and the blacks deepened even more due to the competition for the few available jobs. A very famous court case at that time was the Scottsboro trials. These trials were based on the accusation against nine black men for raping two white women. These trials began on March 25, 1931. The Scottsboro trials were very similar to Tom Robinson’s trial. The similarities include the time factor and also the fact that in both cases, white women accused black men.
"To Kill a Mockingbird." Sparknotes LLC. 2003. Barnes & Noble Learning Network. 2 Nov. 2003 .
Scout Finch is not the stereotypical girl from the 1930’s. Agents the wishes of everyone around her, she grows up in overalls instead of dresses. Scout plays in the dirt and sand, instead of in the kitchen. In the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird, by Harper Lee, Scout is the wild spirited narrator, growing up in the small town of Maycomb. As she gets older, she learns mostly from her father Atticus how to interact with people. Scout learns to show dignity and respect to everyone, under any circumstances.
Harper Lee wrote this book in the 1930’s and was later published during the Civil Right Movements. A reason she could have written this book is to prove how unequal society was at the time. Society was so unequal that they shunned their own kind if they treated black people as humans. Luckily, society has made huge improvements toward inequality, and this book has helped with it. This is why Nelle Harper Lee wrote To Kill a Mockingbird.