ntroductory Notes Hard-Won Liberty: NOVEL ntro Scene:
Jan 05, 2016
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…