The Historical Time Period In Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird

How did the historical time period affect people's lives during the 1930s? Back in the 1930s people's standards of normal behavior and ways of living were drastically different they are today. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is set during the 1930s and tells the story of the Finch family’s struggle trying to save Tom Robinson. Harper Lee drew inspiration for the traits of certain characters from the historical time period described in the three sources. Each of the articles provide a historical explanation for a why a certain character or characters acted a certain way. Throughout the story these key concepts about the past develop the characters of the novel. The historical time period is deeply rooted in Harper Lee’s novel, especially

The case of the Scottsboro Boys was no exception where “nine black teenagers, aged thirteen to nineteen, were accused of raping two white women”(Patterson 113). They were “repeatedly tried, retried and sentenced to death for the assault, despite a lack of physical evidence". In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell and her father, accused Tom Robinson of raping Mayella. Atticus, Tom’s lawyer, “had used every tool available to free men to save Tom Robinson, but in the secret courts of men’s hearts Atticus had no case. Tom was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed”(Lee 323). No matter how hard Atticus tried to prove Tom innocent before they even went to court the jury knew they were going to convict Tom. Both of these cases are similar in the matter that they involve a black person or a group of them who were wrongly convicted, with a lack of proof solely due to the prejudices of the jury. Not only does the historical time period affect Tom’s case but also explains why Scout is pressured to have good manners and act like a proper

Parents were supposed to teach their “child to be well-mannered and polite”(Eichler 61). There were also even more strict guidelines for how a girl should act. Girls were supposed to be charming, have beautiful manners and learn important virtues. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout is always bothered by her aunt telling her to be more ladylike and showing disapproval to her clothing. Scout says that "Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants”(Lee 108). Scout does not show much interest in feminine activities and would much rather play with Jem and Dill. This description of Aunt Alexandra’s point of view perfectly matches that described in the excerpt, from the Book of Etiquette, on how children, girls in particular, should act. In addition to explaining why Scout is told to be more ladylike the past also effects Dolphus Raymond, who fell in love with a black women which was unheard of at the