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Starter…. Write the title: “Context of TKAM” Put these events into chronological order in your books: The Year that TKAM was set. World War 2 World War 1 The Wall Street Crash The Depression. Introduction…. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about the dangers of prejudice.
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Starter… • Write the title: “Context of TKAM” • Put these events into chronological order in your books: The Year that TKAM was set. World War 2 World War 1 The Wall Street Crash The Depression
Introduction… • To Kill a Mockingbird is a book about the dangers of prejudice. • Although it’s fictional, it’s based on real attitudes towards black people in 1930s Alabama and real events like the Scottsboro Trials. • Harper Lee believed in Equality • Revision Tip: Research the Scottsboro Trials
The Story Really Begins with the Slave Trade… • You need to know a bit about the history of the South in order to really understand To Kill a Mockingbird. • The events which took place at the end of the 19th Century shaped the attitudes of the characters in 1930s Maycomb. • Slaves were brought to America in the 19th Century to work the fields and plantations – they were kept in terrible conditions and had no freedom or rights whatsoever. They were treated as inferior. • Slavery wasn’t abolished in the US until 1865 – but even then, many many white people still treated black people as inferior, even treated them as animals.
Slavery Played A Big Part In The Civil War… • The American Civil War was between the Northern and the Southern States, it was violent and bloody and around 620,000 people died. • The War was about Slavery, the North wanted it abolished whereas the South wanted to keep in in place – when the North won the war, they abolished Slavery. • Even after its abolition, attitudes towards black people stayed the same – they could only get poorly paid jobs and weren’t entitled to an education; there would be no black children in Scout’s class!
Links to the novel… Theme – Family Scout’s cousin, Ike Finch, is described as the only surviving Confederate veteran – meaning that it is still remembered by many…
History pops up Everywhere in the Novel… • The history of the Finch family is linked to the history of the South – their ancestor Simon Finch had three slaves who helped him to build the family home. • Until Atticus went to Law School the family made their money by farming Cotton. • People are proud of their history – Scout tells us the Finch family are southerners on the first page of the novel.
Maycomb isn’t a real place… The layout of the town is described in detail and the characters are familiar Harper Lee wants the town to be recognisable, to show that prejudice can happen in any Southern American Town. There are a lot of prejudiced characters in the book, but even the prejudiced characters almost always have good qualities too This shows how likeable people often have prejudices, for many, racism was a part of everyday life. Nothing much ever changes, even snow is a highly rare occurrence This shows the town is stuck in its ways, it’ll take ages to change people’s ways.
1930s America was NOT a Happy Place… • In 1929, the American stock market collapsed. This was known as the ‘Wall Street Crash’, and caused a worldwide economic recession – much worse than the current one. • It affected the prices of crops, wood and coal – demand fell as people had less money to spend. • People couldn’t earn a living – the average American income dropped by 40% between 1929 and 1932. People left their homes in search of work.
The Great Depression Affected Maycomb… • This depression is what Atticus is talking about when he mentions that times are hard for people. There’s a great deal of poverty in the book. Even the Finches aren’t wealthy – Scout says, “nickels and dimes were hard to come by”. • Families like the Cunninghams were hit really hard – he could get a welfare job, but this would mean letting his farm go to ruin; this is what Atticus means when he says people faced tough decisions. • Bob Ewell is another character affected by the Great Depression. He’s given ‘relief cheques’ by the government to help feed his family. • The Depression made people even more racist, they blamed the end of slavery for the depression in the early 30s.
American Society Was Racist in The 30s… • In 1930s America it was normal for white and black people to be segregated, meaning that the different races were kept apart. In the south, a black man could risk being lynched if he so much as looked at a white girl. • Between 1889 and 1930. around 3700 people were lynched in the US. It wasn’t just black people either, white people could be lynched if they sympathised with black people! • In 1930 Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith were lynched. They had been accused of rape but not convicted – the mob broke into the jail where they were being kept and killed them.
These people are smiling – remember, these are the people Harper Lee were aiming her attacks at. Their intolerance was the fuel for TKAM.
The 1950s were bringing change… • By the early 50s things hadn’t really improved for black people – they were still denied basic rights. • But by the mid 50s people like Martin Luther King were bringing change through peaceful protests and activism – their campaign was known as the Civil Rights Movement. • Although many whites supported this movement, there were still many who didn’t, especially in the south where they were still treated as inferior.. • Harper Lee wrote TKAM in the late 50s when the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing – her novel captured the mood of the time because it gave hope for the future. Theme – Intolerance Atticus tells Jem and Scout that white people will ‘pay the bill’ for their treatment of black people. This is an example of dramatic irony – when the book was published black Americans were campaigning for equality. Dramatic irony: When the reader realises the importance of what a character says or does when the characters don’t.
Quick Questions… Answer in your books. • In what year was slavery abolished in the US? • What was one of the main causes of the Civil War? • Why does Harper Lee describe Maycomb in such detail? • What was the great depression. • What does ‘segregation’ mean? • What does ‘lynching’ mean? • Roughly how many people were lynched between 1889 and 1930? • What was the Civil Right’s Movement?
Quotes You are now going to be given some quotes. Your task is to make a point about the context of the novel, then back it up with the quote I have provided you with. The first has been done for you.
Quote 1 Scout says, “There was nothing to buy and no money to buy it with”. You would write (Copy this!) : The novel is set during the Great Depression which had a negative impact on many families. Jobs were hard to come by and many families had no income, in the novel Scout says, “There was nothing to buy and no money to buy it with”.
Quote 2 Cecil Jacobs tells Scout her father “defended niggers”.
Quote 3 Atticus stands vigil outside Tom Robinson’s jail cell, when “Shadows became substance as lights revealed solid shapes moving toward the jail door. Atticus remained where he was“.
Quote 4 “First Purchase African M.E. Church was in the Quarters outside the southern town limits… Negroes worshiped in it on Sundays and white men gambled in it on weekdays”
Quote 5 “Walter Cunningham…didn’t forget his lunch, he didn’t have any. He had none today nor would he have any tomorrow or the next day. He had probably never seen three quarters together at the same time in his life.”
Quote 6 “‘I most positively will. How do you think I sign my relief checks?’ Mr. Ewell was endearing himself to his fellow citizens.”
Plenary How does the historical background of the novel help to explain why the black community in Maycomb was treated so badly? Answer this question in this books using quotes.
