'A black man charged withe the rape of a white girl. Through the young eyes of Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with exuberant humour the irrationality of adult attitudes to race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s. The conscience of a town steeped in the prejudice, violence and hypocrisy is pricked by the stamina of one man's struggle for justice. But the weight of history will only tolerate so much'
Main points
- During the great depression
- They are well off as their father is a lawyer
- Protagonist Scout Fincha
- Set in a town in Alabama called Maycomb
- The town has a racist white community
10 Adjectives to describe the book
- Timeless
- Informed
- Inquisitive
- Youthful
- Touching
- Mysterious
- Intriguing
- Courageous
- Conflicting
- Compassionate
Context
- Lee was born on April 28 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama - a small town in many ways similar to Maycomb.
- Lee's father was also a lawyer
- She drew inspiration from her friend Truman Capote for the character of Dill
- Lee maintains that the novel does not portray her own childhood home but rather a nonspecific Southern town
- Second book wasn't released until 2015
- During Lee's childhood in 1931, 3 black men had been accused of raping white women, and were eventually convicted despite the knowledge that the women were lying.
- Instances like this were common within a highly racist South America
- The book was published just before the peak of civil rights movement 1960
Themes
- The coexistent of good and evil
- The importance of moral education
- The existence of social inequality
- Racism and prejudice
- Societal gender roles and conditioning
- A child's transition from innocence to experience
Motifs
- Gothic details
- Small town life
Symbols
- Mockingbirds
- Boo Radley
- The mad dog
- The Radley Place
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