Nelle Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama and drew from her childhood experiences to write To Kill a Mockingbird. The novel is set in 1930s Maycomb, Alabama, a small town meant to represent Lee's hometown, and explores themes of racial injustice and the loss of childhood innocence through the story of Scout Finch. It was published in 1960 to widespread acclaim, winning the Pulitzer Prize and becoming a bestseller that remains widely read today for its portrayal of a pivotal time in the American South and issues of prejudice that still resonate.

1. Introduction to To
Kill A Mockingbird
By: Nelle Harper Lee

2. About Nelle Harper Lee
 Born: April 28, 1926
 Birthplace:
Monroeville, Alabama
 Youngest of four
children
 Her father was a
lawyer and newspaper
editor
 Nelle Harper Lee was
a tomboy as a child

3. Harper Lee Continued…
 Attended and graduated from Monroe County
High School
 Studied law at the University of Alabama
 Spent a year at Oxford University
 Did not pursue a legal career—moved to New
York where she worked for an airline and spent
the remainder of her time writing Mockingbird.
 1960 To Kill A Mockingbird emerged

4. Nelle Harper Lee
 Childhood friend of writer
Truman Capote
 Always took an interest in
literature and writing
 To Kill a Mockingbird is the
only novel Lee ever wrote
(1960)
 November 5, 2007—
Presented with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
By George W. Bush
 Rarely grants requests for
public appearances,
interviews, or book signings

5. First time is a charm
 Won the heralded
Pulitzer Prize in 1961
 In 1999 the novel was
voted “Best Novel of
the Century” by the
Library Journal
 Remains a bestseller
with 30 million copies
in print

6. A Southern Gothic Novel
 Setting: exclusively in the American South
 Common Themes: deeply flawed, disturbing or
disoriented characters; decayed or derelict
settings; grotesque situations; and other sinister
events relating to or coming from poverty,
alienation, racism, crime, and violence
 Explores social issues and reveals the cultural
character of the American South

7. Mockingbird?
"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."

8. Setting
 Maycomb, Alabama
during the depression
(1930s)
 Thought to represent
Harper Lee’s small
hometown of
Monroeville, AL

9. Setting Continued…

10. What was going on?
 The South was in racial turmoil.
 Civil Rights
 Not only was the South dealing with the effects of
The Great Depression, they were also DEEPLY
involved in the Civil Rights Movement
 The United States was in financial turmoil.
 The effects of The Great Depression were felt
world-wide – not just in the South.
 Novel’s setting: 1930’s Publication: 1960

11. Main Characters
 Scout (Jean Louise Finch) – six-year-old narrator of
story
 Jem (Jeremy Finch) – her older brother
 Atticus Finch – Jem and Scout’s father, a prominent
lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a
white woman
 Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse
who lives next door; thought of as a “freak”

12. Main Characters, cont.
 Charles Baker (Dill) Harris – Jem and Scout’s friend
who comes to visit his aunt in Maycomb each summer
 Tom Robinson – a respectable black man accused of
raping a white woman
 Calpurnia – the Finches’ black cook
 Bob Ewell-drunken, unemployed, and comes from a
poor family; represents the dark side of the south by
symbolizing racial hatred
 Mayella Ewell-Bob’s daughter; lonely and unhappy; accuses a
black man of raping her

13. Themes
 Good vs. Evil
 Loss of Innocence
 Prejudice
 Understanding
 Educated vs. Uneducated
 Religion
 A Time for Courage

14. Themes
 Each theme is characterized by human
flaws, and the only way to overcome the
flaw is to act just, according to the laws of a
peaceful society.

15. Conflicts
 Man vs. Man
Bob Ewell vs. Tom Robinson
Ewell’s vs. Atticus Finch
 Man vs. Society
Boo Radley vs. Society
Tom Robinson vs. Society

16. Social Class in the Novel
Wealthy
Country Folk
"White Trash"
Black
Community
Examples of each social class:
Wealthy - Finches
Country Folk - Cunninghams
“White Trash” – Ewells
Black Community – Tom Robinson
This is probably similar to how class
structure existed during the 1930’s in the
South. The wealthy, although fewest in
number, were most powerful. The blacks,
although great in number, were lowest on
the class ladder, and thus, had the least
privileges.

17. THE END!
 HAPPY READING!

18. Boo Radley’s Home Place

19. TKAM Play in Monroeville
The Radley’s House,
The Finch’s House,
and Dill’s Aunt’s
house

20. TKAM Play in Monroeville, cont.