To Kill a mockingbird

Harper lee

Harper Lee

• Mother: Frances Cunningham Finch
• Father: Amasa Coleman Lee
• Youngest of 5 children

To Kill a mockingbird (Tkam)

• Many people think that TKAM is based on Lee's life in Monroeville.
• Her father, Amasa, was an attorney like Atticus Finch, and tried a similar case to the one in TKAM.
• TKAM won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961

TKAM (continued)

• Setting: Maycomb, Alabama in 1933-1935, during the Great Depression
• Most people, especially in small towns like Maycomb, were very poor

Monroeville, alabama

• TKAM became so famous that they now produce its play in the Monroeville courthouse

historical context

• Many think that TKAM was also influenced by the famous Scottsboro boys trial in 1931; the trial was for several African-American boys accused of raping two white girls.
• This was written during the Civil Rights movement, where African-Americans were fighting for equal rights.

Movie Adaptation

• TKAM was made into a movie in 1962.
• The movie was nominated for 8 Oscars, and won 3.
• Lee was so impressed with Gregory Peck's performance as Atticus that she gave him her father's pocketwatch.