BY HARPER LEE

Nelle Harper Lee was an

American novelist best known
for her novel “To Kill a
Mockingbird”. It won the 1961
Pulitzer Prize and has become
a classic of modern American
literature.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In 1931, nine black teenage boys were accused of

rape by two white girls. The trials of the boys
lasted six years. These trials were given the name
The Scottsboro Trials, made national headlines,
and intensified the debate about race and racism
in America.

Ultimately, after six years of trials in which the

boys were kept in jail, and despite the fact that
one of the girls ultimately changed her testimony
and claimed that no rape had actually occurred,
five of the nine were convicted of rape.

These cases are said to have inspired To Kill a

Mockingbird, as Tom Robinson is also a target of
a false and racially motivated rape accusation in
the novel.
JEAN LOUISE FINCH (SCOUT) JEREMY ATTICUS FINCH (JEM) ATTICUS FINCH
MORAL LESSON
The central theme of the novel is
xenophobia and the plight of African
Americans in the United States in the first
half of the 20th century.

The book teaches us many important

things: real friendship, trust, and
understanding are shown from the
perspective of a brave little girl. She
begins to understand cruelty, injustice,
racism and anger.
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION