Realism In To Kill A Mockingbird

Realistic fiction is a type of genre that contains situations that could happen, but the characters are fictional. Realistic fiction can have a historical element to it such as in Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee is an American author widely known for this dramatic, realistic fiction novel based on racial prejudice in the south many years ago.
Nelle Harper Lee was born on April 28, 1926, in Monroeville, Alabama. Her mother was Frances Lee, and her father was Amasa Coleman. Lee was named after her grandmother, Ellen, which is Nelle spelled backwards. Lee is a direct descendant of Confederate Army Civil War Commander, Robert E. Lee (“Harper Lee (1926-2016)”). Her father was a lawyer and a member of Alabama’s Legislature. Many
believe that her mother had a bipolar disorder, which explains why she seldom left the house. (“Harper Lee”). Bipolar disorder is a mental disorder that causes rotating periods of extreme sadness and happiness. At two years old, Lee’s lifelong friend, Truman Capote moved in as her next-door neighbor. As a child, Lee stood out from the other girls her age. She enjoyed literature and unlike the other girls, she had an attitude with teachers and got into fights on the playground. Despite her insolent behavior, she was always very concerned with her grades and schoolwork.
Graduating from Monroe County High School in 1944, Lee decided to attend Huntingdon College for Women in Montgomery, Alabama. Although she was a very private person, she became a part of the Glee Club and Literary Honor Society. (“Harper Lee Biography”). Lee spent only a year at this university before transferring to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. While there, she joined a sorority and pursued her love for writing with the school’s newspaper and humor magazine. Lee was accepted into the university’s law school in 1946. Six months short of her law degree, she dropped out (“Harper Lee Biography”).
At 23 years-old Lee moved to New York City. There she became friends with Broadway composer, Michael Martin Brown and his wife Joy. She was also reunited with her old friend, Truman Capote. On Christmas day, 1956, she received a gift from the Brown’s that changed her life. They gifted Lee with enough money for her to quit her job and write full-time for a year. During this time, she also helped Capote with an article he was writing (“Harper Lee Biography”). Lee submitted her first novel titled Go Set a Watchman to a publisher in 1957. They asked her to revise it and make the main character a child. She worked on this for two years until it became her groundbreaking novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. She lived very privately after she published her book in 1960 and it became a huge success. She did not enjoy public attention, and she once said, “I am still alive although very quiet” (“Harper Lee”). She became very wealthy and gave most of her money to charity. In 1966, Capote published a novel and Lee became angry with him because he did not give her credit for her part. However, they remained close friends. In 2007, Lee moved into an assisted living facility in her home town, Monroeville, Alabama. The manuscript of Go Set a Watchman was found and published as its own book in 2015. On February 19, 2016, Lee died in her sleep at the assisted living facility.
After Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird, she received many awards: the Book of the Month Alternate, the Literary Guild, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and the Best Seller’s Paperback award. She was also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush. In the novel, Atticus Finch is a heroic lawyer. Frances Lee (Harper Lee’s mother) was the inspiration for Atticus. Many believe that Lee’s writing was influenced by the Scottsboro Incident. The Scottsboro Incident was a case in the 1930s when nine African American men were accused of raping two white women. To Kill a Mockingbird was made into a film and won four Academy Awards (“Harper Lee”).
In 1960, Lee published a book that moved the world.
This famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, focuses on a young girl known as “Scout.” It takes place in the small town of Monroeville, Alabama. Scout lives with her father, Atticus who is a lawyer, her brother Jem, who is four years older, and their cook Calpurnia (Harper Lee). When Scout was only two years old, her mother suffered a sudden heart attack and died. Now Scout is six years old, and she spends most of her time playing outside with Jem and his friend Charles Baker Harris or “Dill.” Across the street from where the Finch family lives is the Radley house (Harper Lee). The house is home to brothers, Arthur and Nathan Radley. Arthur Radley, the younger of the two brothers is the biggest mystery of all to the children. The children called him “Boo” because they thought he was horrid and scary (Harper Lee). He never leaves the house and was rumored to have stabbed his father in the leg with scissors when he was younger. Dill thinks they should try to lure Boo out of the house. After Dill leaves to go back home, Scout and Jem begin finding gifts like gum and pennies in a hole in a tree at the Radley house. The children soon realize that Boo is not as scary as they thought (Harper Lee). A few days later, Atticus Finch is appointed as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. Tom is an African American man who was arrested and charged with the rape of a white woman named Mayella Ewell. During this time, most everyone in the town was racist. When they held the trial, it seemed clear that Tom should not have been convicted (Harper Lee). Despite all the evidence being against his conviction, Tom was sentenced to death. Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell becomes very angry with Atticus and threatens to kill him. On Halloween night, Jem and Scout were walking home when a drunken Mr.Ewell tried to kill them (Harper Lee). Boo Radley overheard the children screaming and came to their rescue. He stabbed Mr.Ewell to protect the
children. In order to protect Boo’s privacy the sheriff made up the story that Bob had gotten so drunk that he tripped on a root and landed on his own kitchen knife. Atticus is concerned that his children will not respect him if they see him dishonoring the law (Harper Lee). However, Scout reassures him by saying, “Making a hero of Boo would be like killing a mockingbird.” At the end of this novel, Boo asks Scout to walk him back across the street back to his home. She stares intently off of the Radley porch and thinks of what everything must be like through Boo’s eyes (Harper Lee). Seeing things from other’s point of view is only one of the many lessons that Scout learns throughout the story. To Kill a Mockingbird is a realistic fiction novel because it uses situations that could have happened in a past setting. Lee uses symbolism in the story when Atticus says, “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Miss Maudie also said, “Your father’s right. Mockingbirds don’t do one thing except make music for us to enjoy” (Harper Lee). When Scout says that making a hero of Boo would be like killing a mockingbird, she uses the mockingbird to symbolize anyone weak or defenseless. In this case, Boo is the mockingbird because he is reclusive and doesn’t harm anyone. Scout interprets what her father said as “Do not take advantage of those weaker than you.” This is one of the more important lessons Scout learns in the story.
Harper Lee is one of the most influential authors in history. Her work continues to change people’s outlook on life and the way they should treat others. On November 5, 2007, President George W. Bush said “’To Kill a Mockingbird’ has influenced the character of our country for the better. It’s been a gift to the entire world.”