Realism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Realistic fiction is a type of genre that contains situations that could happen, but the characters are fictional. Realistic fiction can have a historical element to it such as in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee is an American author widely known for this dramatic, realistic fiction novel based on racial prejudice in the south many years ago.
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Her mother was Frances Lee, and her father was Amasa Coleman. Lee was named after her grandmother, Ellen, which is Nelle spelled backwards. Lee is a direct descendant of Confederate Army Civil War Commander, Robert E. Lee (“Harper Lee (1926-2016)”). Her father was a lawyer and a member of Alabama’s Legislature. Many
This famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on a young girl known as “Scout.” It takes place in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. Scout lives with her father, Atticus who is a lawyer, her brother Jem, who is four years older, and their cook Calpurnia (Harper Lee). When Scout was only two years old, her mother suffered a sudden heart attack and died. Now Scout is six years old, and she spends most of her time playing outside with Jem and his friend Charles Baker Harris or “Dill.” Across the street from where the Finch family lives is the Radley house (Harper Lee). The house is home to brothers, Arthur and Nathan Radley. Arthur Radley, the younger of the two brothers is the biggest mystery of all to the children. The children called him “Boo” because they thought he was horrid and scary (Harper Lee). He never leaves the house and was rumored to have stabbed his father in the leg with scissors when he was younger. Dill thinks they should try to lure Boo out of the house. After Dill leaves to go back home, Scout and Jem begin finding gifts like gum and pennies in a hole in a tree at the Radley house. The children soon realize that Boo is not as scary as they thought (Harper Lee). A few days later, Atticus Finch is appointed as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. Tom is an African American man who was arrested and charged with the rape of a white woman named Mayella Ewell. During this time, most everyone in the town was racist. When they held the trial, it seemed clear that Tom should not have been convicted (Harper Lee). Despite all the evidence being against his conviction, Tom was sentenced to death. Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell becomes very angry with Atticus and threatens to kill him. On Halloween night, Jem and Scout were walking home when a drunken Mr.Ewell tried to kill them (Harper Lee). Boo Radley overheard the children screaming and came to their rescue. He stabbed Mr.Ewell to protect the