To Kill A Mockingbird Influences

Historical Influences on To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Depression was a very depressing time for millions. Nearly 25 percent of America’s population was unemployed, which means that many lost their homes and had to use food wisely (McCabe). This shows up in To Kill a Mockingbird in the Cunningham family’s lifestyle. They are very poor and try to make ends meet with the farmland they have (Lee). Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is based on three main historical influences. The Jim Crow laws, mob mentality as well as racism are the three influences on Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. One of the influences of To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee is the Jim Crow laws. The laws were a way to keep the African American’s second-class
citizens. An example would be “ A Black male could not offer his hand (to shake hands) with a White male because it implied being socially equal.” (Pilgrim). The reason for these laws was fear of losing control to people who are different. For example “ Craniologists, eugenicists, phrenologists, and Social Darwinists, at every education level, buttressed the belief that Blacks are innately intellectually and culturally inferior to Whites.” (Pilgrim). In an illustration by the artist V.F. shows how the Blacks are lower in class than animals. The punishments for the Blacks if they did not follow the law and etiquette were almost worse than the laws themselves. The reason the laws had to be enforced was because ”… Blacks often were economic competitors to the local Whites.”(Pilgrim). A major punishment was lynching, “ Lynching served many purposes: it was cheap entertainment; it served as a rallying, uniting point for Whites; it functioned as an ego—massage for low-income, low-status Whites; it was a method of defending White domination and helped stop or retard the fledgling social equality movement.” (Pilgrim). The Jim Crow laws are also in To Kill a Mockingbird here are some of the ways. One law that was brought up in To Kill a Mockingbird was Blacks had to use courtesy titles and Whites did not (Pilgrim). This shows up in To Kill a Mockingbird during the trial when Tom is on the witness stand and Mr. Gilmer uses “boy” to talk to Tom, and Tom replies to Mr. Gilmer with “sir” (Lee). The Jim Crow laws were not the only influences in To Kill a Mockingbird, mob mentality was also an influence. Another influence of To Kill a Mockingbird was mob mentality.
Mob mentality is a mind set of a person that is not one they would normally have as an individual (Smith). One modern day example of this would be the crowds on Black Friday. People have been trampled and hospitalized due to the mindset of the ones surrounding. Another example would be from the 1930’s, when lynching was a type of entertainment for a crowd as well as a mob (Beitler). This one lynching in particular where a white man was shot and three black teenagers were arrested for his murder. While at the jail the three boys were attacked by the mob of people who broke into the jail with sledgehammers and crowbars. The first boy was stabbed to death before he was hung. The second boy was dragged to the same tree as his brother and pulled up but resisted the rope so the mob broke his arms and raised him back up. They spared the third boy (“Strange Fruit: Anniversary of a Lynching.”). This example shows how a mob can start as something simple and then take a quick turn and become a fatal occurrence. People do not normally chose to go against the grain when it’s so much easier to go with the flow and with the grain. Mob mentality is evident in To Kill a Mockingbird when the group of men comes to the jail that Tom Robinson was currently at and tried to get past Atticus to get to Tom. Mob mentality is only one out of three main influences the last one is
racism. The Jim Crow laws and mob mentality are the first two influences the third one is racism. Racism by definition means “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race” (merriam-webster.com). This concept of racism is one that starts by something as simple as fear of differences and change. Some other reasons people become racist could be to improving their own self-esteem by lowering someone’s who in my opinion doesn’t deserve it and has already gone through enough. Another reason could be having the sense of belonging in a group even if you don’t agree with the group it is better than being lonely. The last reason is showing dominance over the minority, having a higher status and making sure the people know their place on the list (Routledge). In the Scottsboro trials a couple examples of racism occurs. When the one woman told the truth after lying before creates more evidence for the boy’s case. As well as they brought the train cars into the case and found that the women and the boys were not even in the same car, which proves that the claimed rape could never have happened. Even with this evidence the boys still had to serve time in jail because the color of their skin was darker than the white people in the majority (Anderson). Racism has a couple occurrences in To Kill a Mockingbird. For example, during the trials the way Mr. Ewell and Mr. Gilmer treated Tom was very disrespectful. Another example is while the kids are at church with Calpurnia, the way the kids are treated at first by Lula is an example of racism. (Lee)
The three historical influences that are found in To Kill a Mockingbird are the Jim Crow laws, mob mentality, and racism.