Question  To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee’s Life Who is Harper Lee, and how is her life reflected in To Kill a Mockingbird? Instructions (How to get it done): • Log in to the library database and search for information on Harper Lee’s biography and the history of To Kill a Mockingbird. • You must have at least two outside sources (does not include TKA Mockingbird) that are academic and reliable. • Create an essay that is at least two pages and relates the following information: o Information on who is author Harper Lee How is her life reflected in To Kill a Mockingbird? • Be sure to avoid plagiarism and put the researched information into your own words. Do not cut and paste! • Note: This is a research essay and not an argumentative essay. The skills reflected are to find academic and reliable sources and use them in a research-based essay. Requirements: • Length and format: at least 2-3 pages. • The title page and reference page are also required, but they should not be factore

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee’s Life

Born in 1926, Nelle Harper Lee was a marvelous author known for her great works such as ‘To Kill a Mockingbird”. This work of fiction was published in 1960 and captured the attention of all its readers. Subsequently, a year later, the captivation of its readers contributed to the winning of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1961 (Haggerty, 2010). Another year later, a film was created from the book. The story focuses on a young girl, six years old at the beginning of the film and eight years old at the end. The girl’s name is Scout Finch, who lives with her father, Atticus Finch, and brother, Jem Finch. The book is a narration of valuable lessons a person should learn. Atticus gives his children a rifle in the book and warns them against shooting at the mockingbird since it causes no harm but sings delightfully. At the end of the book, Scout compares Boo Radley to the mockingbird as her father and the sheriff do not disclose his involvement in Bob Ewell’s death. Therefore, the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” covers various themes related to the author’s real-life experiences, Harper Lee.

The first correlation is in the characters of the book (Canar, 2009). For instance, the book focuses on the life of a young gamine girl, Scout, whose father is a lawyer. Harper Lee was a young gamine girl at a time in her life. The book includes one friend, Dill, who visits once in a while and plays with Scout and Jem. This character correlates to Harper Lee’s friend Truman Capote. Additionally, her father was a lawyer, just as Scout’s father was.

Moreover, Calpurnia, a cook for the Finch family, depicts Hattie Belle Clausell, a black woman who took care of Harper Lee as a child when the mother couldn’t (Canar, 2009). Another character is the Black man, Tom Robinson, who is under trial for raping a white lady, Bob Ewell’s daughter. Atticus, Scout’s father, represented this man during the trial, leading to multiple conflicts due to racism. Harper Lee’s father, Amasa Coleman Lee, also represented a black man, as is the case in the book (Canar, 2009). In the book, Scout’s mother is considered deceased, relaying the absence she felt in her life with her mother’s absence. Therefore, most of the characters in the book are built on people in Harper Lee’s life.

The second correlation is in the themes of the book. The book covers various themes such as racism, misconceptions and deceit, injustice, violence, society classes, education, and family and friendship. The first theme is family and friendship, depicted in Scout’s family, where she has a father, brother, and cook. Harper Lee lost her mother and became close to her father, mainly due to her gamine nature (Herman, 2017). The cook represents the help hired to care for Harper, cook, and clean. The friendship between Dill, Jem, and Scout is illustrated in the games they play together. Eventually, the friendship includes Boo Radley, who saves Jem and Scout when Bob Ewell attacks them. The friendship represents the friendship Harper Lee had with Truman Capote, illustrating how much Harper valued their friendship.

The second theme is misconception and deceit. Misconceptions and deceit in the book contribute to the racism theme of the book. The black man, Tom Robinson, was falsely accused of rape by Bob Ewell’s daughter. Furthermore, despite his innocence, Atticus loses the case because of racism. The jury consisted of white individuals, and a white lady brought the case forward. Thus, they lost the trial before it even began. The town’s townspeople also turned on Atticus for defending Tom Robinson and tried to kill Tom Robinson as he awaited his transfer to prison. This aspect illustrates the third theme of racism. Harper Lee’s father represented a black man as he practiced law to influence Harper’s narration in the story.  The second case of deceit is Bob Ewell’s death, whereby the sheriff says the man tripped and died of his hand, while Boo Radley kills Bob Ewell to save Scout and Jem. These good deeds lead to the effects of misconceptions. The people of the town created ideas of Boo Radley as an evil person, while he was the opposite and as weak as a mockingbird, illustrated in Scout helping him cross the street. Accordingly, Harper Lee asks people to be considerate of others.

The racism in the book illustrates the injustice in the Justice system. Tom Robinson lost the case before it even began because he was a black man. Despite the great defense presented by Atticus, they still lost a case. This loss illustrates the injustice of the Justice system since he was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit against a white lady. Harper Lee uses this theme to illustrate resilience since Atticus provided a powerful