This document provides context and background information about the setting and social climate of Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird. It takes place in the 1930s in the Southern US during the Great Depression. Racial prejudice and legal segregation were prevalent. The document outlines the racial, social, and gender hierarchies of the time period. It introduces the main characters and provides details about the Finch family, Atticus defending Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley. Context is also given around the language used in the novel to reflect the era. Key topics to take notes on while reading are outlined.

1. Introduction:To Kill a MockingbirdBy HarperLee

2. SETTING OF THE NOVELSouthern United States1930’sGreat DepressionPrejudice and legal segregationIgnorance

3. Southern MentalityFamily valuesHospitalityGossip

4. 1930’s - Great Depression began when the stock market crashed in October, 1929 Businesses failed, factories closedPeople were out of workEven people with money suffered because nothing was being produced for sale. Poor people lost their homes, were forced to “live off the land.”

5. Social Class in the NovelThis is probably similar to how class structure existed during the 1930’s in the South. The wealthy, although fewest in number, were most powerful. The blacks, although great in number, were lowest on the class ladder, and thus, had the least privileges. Examples of each social class:Wealthy - FinchesCountry Folk - Cunninghams“White Trash” – EwellsBlack Community – Tom Robinson

6. Racial prejudice was alive & well. Although slavery had ended in 1864, old ideas were slow to change.

7. Racial separation (segregation)

8. Gender Bias (Prejudice)Women were considered “weak”Women were generally not educated for occupations outside the homeIn wealthy families, women were expected to oversee the servants and entertain guests Men not considered capable of nurturing children

9. Legal Issues of the 1930’s which impact the storyWomen given the vote in 1920Juries were MALE and WHITE “Fair trial” did not include acceptance of a black man’s word against a white man’s

10. Legal Segregation in Alabama, 1923-1940No white female nurses in hospitals that treat black menSeparate passenger cars for whites and blacksSeparate waiting rooms for whites and blacksSeparation of white and black convictsSeparate schoolsNo interracial marriagesSegregated water fountains Segregated theatres

11. Prejudice in the novelRaceGenderHandicapsRich/PoorAgeReligion

12. Main CharactersScout (Jean Louise Finch) – six years, old narrator of story

13. Jem (Jeremy Finch) – her older brother

14. Atticus Finch – Jem and Scout’s father, a prominent lawyer who defends a black man accused of raping a white woman

15. Arthur (Boo) Radley – a thirty-three-year-old recluse who lives next door