To Kill A Mockingbird and Harper Lee

SIMILARITIES OF HARPER LEE AND SCOUT
INTRODUCTION:
The book opens with the Finch family 's ancestor, Simon Finch, a Cornish Methodist fleeing religious intolerance in England, settling in Alabama, becoming wealthy and, contrary to his religious beliefs, buying several slaves.The main story takes place during three years of the Great Depresion in the fictional "tired old town" of Maycomb, Alabama. It focuses on six-year-old Scout Finch, who lives with her older brother Jem and their widowed father Atticus, a middle-aged lawyer. Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill who visits Maycomb to stay with his aunt each summer. The three children are terrified of, and fascinated by, their neighbor, the reclusive "Boo" Radley.
There are a lot of similarities between Harper Lee and the narrator, Scout, in the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. All the characters in the novel were inspired by her family.
CONTEXT:
The characters in the novel To kill a Mockingbird are Scout: the narrator and protagonist of the story. Scout learns about the goodness of people as well as the dark side of humanity.
Jem: Scout 's older brother, Jem serves as protector. His presence also highlights Scout 's youthful innocence. Atticus: The proud, moral, respected father. Tom Robinson: The accused but apparently innocent rapist. "Boo" Radley: The mysterious neighbor. Harper Lee was the youngest in her family. She was friends with Truman Capote and were also neighbors. She was unruly. She fought with all the boys on the playground. She hated and got bored of school. During High School she was gifted with a great English teacher. Just like Harper, Scout is the youngest in the family. She was unruly. She did not like to go to school. And just like Harper, Scout was fortunate with a gifted English teacher during High School. Harper’s full name is Nelle Harper Lee. Nelle was her grandmothers name but only spelled backwards and Nellie was her nickname. Harper was a tomboy but as she grew she turned into a decent , typical woman. She was friends with Truman Capote. But he had to leave to New York but he visited Alabama every summer which inspired the character Dill. Scout’s full name was Jeann Loiuse Finch , her nickname was Scout. Scout was a tomboy but as she grew she learned how to become and act like a woman. Just like Harper she was friends with Dill. When Harper came to New York and showed the editor, Tay Hohoff, of J.B. Lippincott, Capote offered his help in editing. After the book was published he made his help a big publicity but still Harper continued her friendship with him for 22 years showing the soft female side of her. When the mob gathers in Tom’s prison, Scout attempts a friendly conversation with Mr.Cunningham. This shows that Scout grew up to adjust her feminine role though she was a natural tomboy.
CONCLUSION:
The similarities show that the narrator of the story, Scout, is inspired from Harper and . The novel sold 30 million books in 18 different languages and it was on the best sellers list for 8 weeks. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 and President Obama awarded the novel The National Medal Arts.

WORK CITED : http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide/short-summary/ http://homeworktips.about.com/od/bookreportprofiles/p/mockingbird.htm
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/to-kill-a-mockingbird-at-a-glance

Cited: : http://www.gradesaver.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird/study-guide/short-summary/ http://homeworktips.about.com/od/bookreportprofiles/p/mockingbird.htm http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/to-kill-a-mockingbird/to-kill-a-mockingbird-at-a-glance