Preview

Southern Parallels: An Exploration of the Life of Harper Lee and the Lasting Impact of To Kill a Mockingbird

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
862 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Southern Parallels: An Exploration of the Life of Harper Lee and the Lasting Impact of To Kill a Mockingbird
Ashley Ewing
Dr. Cohoon
Literary Heritage
18 February 2013
Essay One

Southern Parallels: An Exploration of the Life of Harper Lee and the Lasting Impact of To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee is considered one of America’s most enigmatic and influential writers of the twentieth century. Lee’s popular novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, offers readers deep insight into the dynamics of an unconventional family and Southern lifestyle in the1930s. Harper Lee was born Nelle Harper Lee on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama (Sparknotes.com). According to the author’s official website, Harper Lee was a descendant of famous Civil War general, Robert E. Lee, and daughter to a former newspaper editor turned state senator and practicing attorney. She studied law at the University of Alabama from 1945 to 1949 and spent a year at Oxford University Wellington Square as an exchange student (Harperlee.com). Dean Shackelford, author of “The Female Voice In To Kill a Mockingbird: Narrative Strategies In Film and Novel,” explains that To Kill A Mockingbird “portrays a young girl's love for her father and brother and the experience of childhood during the Great Depression in a racist, segregated society which uses superficial and materialistic values to judge outsiders, including the powerful character Boo Radley.” Harper Lee struck literary gold by creating parallel experiences between her life and her novel. Similarities between Lee’s relationships and experiences and that of the protagonist and the spotlight she places on important struggles of the time create a lasting impact on all her readers.
Many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are based on individuals in Harper Lee’s childhood. The narrator, Scout Finch, is a young girl with an inquisitive nature, who lives with her father and older brother. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is an attorney and a disenfranchised member of a prominent family in Maycomb. Sparknotes.com describes Scout’s father as “a widower with a dry



Cited: Hiett, John. "Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill A Mockingbird; The Untold Story Behind A Great American Novel." Library Journal (1976) 136.14 (2011): 80. OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson). Web. 15 Feb. 2013. Shields, Charles J. Mockingbird: A Portrait Of Harper Lee. New York: Henry Holt, 2006. Print. Sparknotes.com

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    As people grow in life, they mature and change in many different ways. Harper Lee is the author of To Kill a Mocking Bird. This book is about Scout Finch and her life in the 1930’s in Maycomb County, Alabama. Harpe, shows how Scout matures and progresses in this book along with many other things. For example Scout, the main character, realizes her town is racist after the Tom Robinson trial. Harper also informs the reader about things Scout does not understand throughout the book. One of the things she demonstrates is the reason why Jem, Scout’s brother, is acting different. She does not know what people act like at that age because she is a lot younger, so all of his behavior is new to her. One of the other examples Harper shows is the very unique relationship between Miss Caroline, Scout’s teacher, and Scout. They would like each other, but Miss Caroline’s teaching strategy is bad for Scout because she is able read.…

    • 826 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Cited: Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Grand Central Publishing , 1982. Print.…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harper Lee was born in Monroeville, Alabama on April 28, 1926. During this time period a lot of racism was in action, the Jim Crow Laws were one of the most major events that Harper Lee had to live through. The Jim Crow Laws are a practice or policy of segregating or discriminating against blacks, as in public places, public vehicles, or employment. The majority of the people in her community were racist, but Lee knew the ways African Americans were treated just wasn’t right. Her father defended two black men accused of murdering a white storekeeper, but both clients were hung. Harper Lee uses both events from her own experiences and historical events, to form To Kill a Mockingbird. She uses characterizes characters in her novel off her…

    • 603 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird: a novel set in the Jim Crow south showing injustice and society through the eyes of a young girl, written by (Nelle) Harper Lee, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Lee started writing started writing at the University of Alabama newspaper and then pursued writing in New york. After working odd jobs for about eight years, and with the help of Truman Capote, Lee published the bestseller “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Scout is the main character in this novel as the son of Atticus Finch, sister to Jem Finch, friend to many, and the narrator. The whole story is shown through Scout’s eyes. She recognizes all of the injustice and problems with their society. She learns many lessons from Atticus and her many experiences that she has in Maycomb County. Atticus stood up for a negroe, John Robinson, who didn’t commit a crime, even though everyone was against him; he defended the mockingbird.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird depicts the childhood and coming of age of a young girl named Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch. The main focus of this novel is the trial of an African-American man named Tom Robinson, who was accused of raping a white woman, and Scout’s father, Atticus, who has been assigned to defend him. Written during the Civil Rights Movement, Lee’s purpose is to highlight the racial prejudice that had permeated throughout the Southern culture. She achieves this in the trial scenes, where she embeds Atticus’s strong dialogue into the context of the vivid imagery she presents of the trial.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Maturation

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages

    To Kill A Mockingbird, authored by Harper Lee, is an American novel of growth and maturation because it focuses on the character development of Scout as she comes to understand the world. This classic novel is set in a racially charged southern town during the Great Depression. The main character and narrator, a young girl named Scout, develops and changes from the conversations and actions that happen in the book. Scout’s direct maturation and learning of life lessons develops by witnessing the hypocrisy of her hometown Maycomb, Alabama, and her father, Atticus, being a major influence in her development.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill A Mockingbird is a novel written by Harper Lee and, published in 1960. Classic novels should say something of value. They may draw attention to issues within human condition. These issues usually transcend time, remaining relevant to later generations. In To Kill A Mockingbird (TKAM hereafter), Harper Lee draws attention to the societal issues covering themes of coexistence of good and evil, the importance of moral education and the existence of social inequality. These themes are explored through the characters of Scout Finch, Bob Ewell and Tom Robinson.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the non-fiction biography “I Am Scout” (Published in 2008 by Henry Holt) Charles Shield tells in 212 pages (without bibliography) about celebrated author of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee. The book describes Lee’s life and the mark she has left on American literature. “I Am Scout” gives the reader a detailed analysis of Harper Lee’s life and her tomboy personality.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is a very popular book all across North America. In some places, it is not known for its positives. Rather, small towns agree that this book is not good for their children to read, and it is rushed off of the school library bookshelves, often only for its harsh but correct depiction of the 1930s. Lee’s book has been banned in several cities and counties all across the continent.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Harper Lee published an amazing novel in 1960 that would change lives for years to come. In her novel, Lee portrays her childhood through a story about a little girl and her family who all live in a small town of Maycomb, Alabama during the 1930s. The story revolves around the lives of Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, her brother Jem, and their father Atticus. In the story, Harper Lee expresses one major theme: the only way to truly understand other people is by considering their perspective. This could resolve bigotry, racism, and class warfare in society.…

    • 1211 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view” (Harper Lee). Harper Lee wrote the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, a top selling novel that brought the nation and the world to a realization. This novel hit the stores in 1960, selling millions of copies and becoming an award winning film. She lives in a small town down in the southern part of the United States, where racism is at its highest. Harper Lee is a ninety-four year old woman whose goal in writing the novel was to bring awareness about discrimination. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee does an incredible job of portraying the necessity of morality, the importance of family, and the overwhelming power of justice.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tkam Essay

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For 50 years, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird has been recognized worldwide as a classic. It has never been out of print, which is just one of the many signs that prove how imprinted into our society it is. Harper Lee changed the way readers experience the world around them, and certainly raised the bar for what should be expected from classic novels. To Kill a Mockingbird’s legacy will be everlasting, for holds a mirror up to America and shows what truly lies underneath.…

    • 796 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To Kill a Mockingbird is a popular story written by Harper Lee and is considered, “of rare excellence...a novel of strong and contemporary national significance,” (Chicago Tribune). The book tells a story from the view of a young girl who…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee is able to successfully develop the characters and portray her purpose for writing the novel. Numerous authors use their characters to achieve the goal of establishing a theme and purpose within their material. They are able to do this by using literary devices to convey what they want the readers to know. This technique is commonly used by authors to relay information and this book features the use of the main character’s perspective, irony, and metaphors. Harper Lee utilized rhetorical devices that manifested the purpose of the novel which focuses on the treatment of people, discrimination during that time era, along with prevalent gender roles forced upon characters throughout the book.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The characters in the novel were based on the people Harper Lee knew throughout her life. According to an article entitled “Harper Lee” Encyclopedia of world biography, Harper Lee’s father served in the Alabama State Legislature. Within the same article it is also noted that Lee’s mother had the middle name of Finch (“Harper Lee”). In the novel the family’s last name is Finch and the model of Atticus who was inspired by Lee’s father.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays