Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird: How Society Affected Harper Lee

How Society Affected Harper Lee

In the book “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee opened our eyes to how unfairly African Americans were treated in the 1930’s. The society Lee grew up in had a lot of racism and segregation. This society affected her in many ways that we can see throughout her book. First of all, racism was one of the things that affected Harper Lee. Many people in the South believed that African Americans were not as good as white people. They believed that African Americans lied and were not to be trusted. Atticus states in To Kill a Mockingbird, “you gentlemen would go along with them on the assumption--the evil assumption--that all Negroes lie, that all Negroes are basically immoral beings, that all Negro men are not to be trusted around our women.” (Lee, 208) People thinking negative about African Americans like that could have easily affected the way Lee thought of African Americans.

The lynchings that happened in the South are another

She based some of the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird on people involved in that trial. For example, Tom is similar to the nine boys in the original trial because they were both defending themselves against the word of a white person. No matter the evidence that was presented, it was not possible for an African American to win. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus says “In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins.” (Lee, 224)

In conclusion, throughout her book To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee shows us how life really was at that time. Racism was causing people to think badly of others that were different from them. She experienced segregation that divided people. She also showed us that we can overcome these things by including a character like Atticus. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.” (Lee,