Introductory Notes

Hard-Won Liberty: NOVEL

Intro Scene:

2015 -- Go Set a Watchman (1st draft of TKAM)

To Kill a Mockingbird - Movie 1962

Notes: Contents

• Historical Background• CASTE-SYSTEMS (aka

people who lived during that time)

• Setting• Characters• Controversy/Banning

Historical Background

SETTING– Maycomb, Alabama; 1933-

1935– Great Depression– Time of Economic Struggle for

many Americans– Many families forced to rely on

men to become migrant workers to provide for family

– Hitler in power in Germany– VIDEO:

http://www.teachertube.com/video/images-of-the-great-depression-226296

– TIMELINE:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/rails-timeline/

Maycomb, Alabama• Fictitious town based on real town of Montgomery, Alabama• Welcome to small town Alabama, circa 1930s. It's a friendly town, with

lots of old ladies baking cakes and small-town sheriffs saying folksy things.• Oh, and it also has morphine-addicted old ladies; abusive families living by

the dump; and a pretty nasty racial divide. • To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the fictional small Southern town of

Maycomb in the 1930s (Tom's trial takes place in 1935). Slavery and the Civil War of the 1860s still loom large in the rearview mirror, but the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s is just a wee little speck on the horizon. And Maycomb is going nowhere fast:“A day was twenty-four hours long but seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County.” (1.10)

• Lots in its own little world, Maycomb doesn't know what's happening elsewhere and doesn't care. Few people move there (not much reason to) and few people leave (why bother?). Source: http://www.shmoop.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/setting.html

Historical BackgroundAfrican-Americans• The Great Depression of the 1930s

worsened the already bleak economic situation of African Americans.

• They were the first to be laid off from their jobs, and they suffered from an unemployment rate two to three times that of whites.

• In early public assistance programs African Americans often received substantially less aid than whites, and some charitable organizations even excluded blacks from their soup kitchens.

• Slavery was abolished in 1864, but Southerners still believed in white supremacy.

• Segregation existed. African-Americans may not sit in the same sections as whites. They had separate facilities as well.

Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/67474/African-Americans/285193/African-American-life-during-the-Great-Depression-and-the-New-Deal

Source: http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3425600021/minority-groups-and-great.html

Other Minorities – • included Mexican Americans, American

Indians, and Asian Americans• Unemployment rate of 50% (compare to

whites @ 25%)• first to lose jobs at a business or on a

farm• often denied employment in public

works programs supposedly available to all needy citizens

• sometimes threatened at relief centers when applying for work or assistance

• Some charities refused to provide food to needy minorities, particularly to blacks in the South.

• Violence against minorities increased during the Depression, as whites competed for jobs traditionally held by minorities.

• Minorities were also excluded from union membership

Historical Background

Historical Background• Gender Bias

– Women considered “the weaker sex”– Education not important for women– Wealthy women were expected to supervise staff– In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, 26 states

had laws prohibiting the employment of married women. The sentiment behind the laws was that a married woman – who presumably had a husband to take care of her – should not "steal" a job from a man.

– It was acceptable for single women to find jobs, but usually these were lower-paying jobs that were typically considered "women’s work" – thus white women worked as.

– Working-class white women would hold jobs such as salesgirls, beauticians, schoolteachers, secretaries, and nurses

– The job market for African American women was even more restricted, with most black women who worked serving as maids, cooks, laundresses, boarding house and lodging house keeping and hairdressing and beauty culture.

– A good deal of women were wives and mothers while men provided for their families – or, at least, attempted to do so.

Source: http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/Women%20and%20Work.htm

Working Women 1930s protesting

Historical BackgroundPoor White

Families• Hard-working• Honest• Proud• Men worked at various

jobs in factories, farms, roadwork,

• Survived on very little• Paid with “entailments” =

Always paid back their debts – even if it is with hickory nuts, turnips, or holly.

• The Cunninghams fit this category

Source: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s2/Time/timefr.html

Historical Background

“Poor white trash”

• Dirty• Lazy• Good-for-nothing• Never done a day’s work• Foul-mouthed• Dishonest• Immoral• The Ewells fit this

category

Historical Background

The Black Community• Simple & Honest• Hard-working• God fearing• Proud• Would never take anything without

paying it back• Respectful• Had stronger character than most of the

whites• Oppressed• Uneducated• Discriminated against• Talked about badly• Deserve better than what is dished out

to them by society• Some examples from the book include

Calpurnia and Tom RobinsonVideo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDS32LEe1Ss

CONTROVERSY/BANNING

• LINKS

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/homework-help-literature/57011-why-was-to-kill-a-mockingbird-banned/http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2012/07/30/banned-books-awareness-to-kill-a-mockingbird/http://dangerousbooks.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/to-kill-a-mockingbird/http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2001/aug/mockingbird/010807mockingbird.htmlhttp://www.lansingcitypulse.com/lansing/article-4533-controversial-or-a-classic.htmlhttp://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-27-spring-2005/feature/books-under-firehttp://www.westport-news.com/opinion/article/To-Kill-a-Mockingbird-Still-relevant-after-50-500199.phphttp://racerelations.about.com/b/2010/07/11/the-backlash-against-to-kill-a-mockingbird.htmhttp://www.wset.com/story/13466620/controversy-over-n-word-in-to-kill-a-mockingbirdhttp://ncacblog.wordpress.com/2010/11/05/florida-high-school-cancels-production-of-to-kill-a-mockingbird/http://www.freedomtoread.ca/articles/teaching-controversy/http://books.google.com/books?

id=aeqIV1m_akQC&pg=PA197&lpg=PA197&dq=controversy+to+kill+a+mockingbird&source=bl&ots=QYZvwomB6C&sig=wDVBMQXDbucCEMbTF0Pj9lfjTB8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zU9yUt_uPOnPsASA94GYCw&ved=0CCwQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=controversy%20to%20kill%20a%20mockingbird&f=false

TOP 5 MAIN REASONS

• BLATANT & OVERT RACISM PORTRAYED• USE OF DEROGATORY LANGUAGE – “N” word• MATURE TOPICS – RAPE, ALCOHOLISM, CHILD

ABUSE• CHARACTER STEREOTYPES – gender, race, creed• TRUTHFULNESS

Characters

Jean Louise Finch “Scout” The story’s narrator Although now an adult, Scout

looks back at her childhood and tells of the momentous events and influential people of those years.

Scout is six yrs old when the story begins.

She is naturally curious about life Tomboy who pals around with

older brother and their summertime neighbor “Dill”

Mother passed away when she was 2 years old

Atticus Finch

Father of Scout and JemA widowerAn attorney by

professionHighly respectedGood citizenInstills good values and

morals in his children“Moral Compass” in the

novel

Jeremy Atticus Finch – “Jem”

Scout’s older brother

Looks up to his father Atticus

Usually looks out for Scout

Typical older brother at times

Smart

Compassionate

Matures as the story progresses

Calpurnia – “Cal”

The Finch’s black housekeeper/maid/nanny

Has her own home/familyHas watched the children

since their mother’s deathHas been a positive influence

on the childrenCan be a hard disciplinarian

but loves the children as her own

Charles BakerHarris – “Dill”

A close friend of Jem and Scout’sUsually lives in Maycomb only during the

summer (stays with a relative)Tells “big stories”Has been deprived of love and affectionHas single mom; later gets step-father

Tom RobinsonA young, harmless,

innocent, hardworking black man

Accused of raping a white woman – facing trial

Has a disabled left handMarried with three

children. Worked on a farm

belonging to Mr. Link Deas, a white man

Arthur Radley - “Boo”

An enigmaAn adult man, whose father has

“sentenced” him to a lifetime confinement to their house because of some mischief he got into when he was a teenager.

Has a reputation of being a lunatic

Basically a harmless, well-meaning person

Sometimes childlike in behaviorStarving for love and affection

Mayella Ewell

At 19, the oldest of the Ewell family (8 kids total)

Shy & lonely Mother passed away a mother figure to her

many siblingsLives near town dump in

filth with; very poor

Bob Ewell

Mayella’s poor “white trash” father

The town parasite who lives off the town’s bounty

Uses welfare checks for alcohol; rumored to physically abuse his children

Uncivilized man who has a negative reputation

Heck Tate

The town sheriff Friends with Atticus Present at the crime scene Scene – key witness in trial

[Also important later during a related yet separate incident]

Aunt Alexandra

Atticus’s sisterRacist & disapproves of

what her brother is doingWants Scout to be a ladyWants Jem to be a

gentlemanStays with family during

trial to provide some “discipline”

Other Characters to KnowJudge Taylor The judge for the Robinson

criminal trial

Mr. Gilmer The prosecutor who defends Mayella Ewell

Dolphus Raymond A white man married to a black woman w/ mulatto

children

Reverend Sykes Minister of the black church that both Calpurnia and Tom

Robinson attend

Link Deas Neighbor & Friend to many;Stands up for Tom in court

Miss Maudie Atkinson

Scout’s NeighborLoves gardens and

bakes the best cake in Maycomb

Knows how to treat children like adults

Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose

A mean old woman in the Finch neighborhood

Teaches the children a lesson in bravery

Add more as we go…