Harper Lee

Essay by s142452Junior High, 9th gradeB+, September 2007

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Grace Krotkov English Per. 4 Mrs. Schuller September 26, 2006 "There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County." (pg. 2) Harper Lee describes her sleepy town of Maycomb, the setting of her book, like this. Every aspect of a story revolves around the setting. The setting of a well-written book exists in complete harmony with the plot, theme, and characters in the story. The author ties the setting in with the events and the characters actions; each has an effect on each other. Harper Lee chose the setting of a small, southern town in the 1930s during the Great Depression because each one represents a key factor in the message of the story.

Primarily in the southern states the inequality of the races presented a very controversial issue in everyday life.

The blacks and the whites even segregated their churches; neither race received each other into their churches with a sincere welcome. In the book a black character made the children feel very uncomfortably out of place when they went to church with Calpurnia. The thought of a black person attending church with white people radically defied all social etiquette from the time. Harper Lee makes a connection to the message of inequality through these facts regarding church. In the 1930s the black race still had to endure high discrimination and segregation. One of the main events in the book revolves around this fact. The results of the event expose reality's unjust truth. Tom Robinson's trial and conviction for the crime he never committed exemplifies the morals and methods of this particular setting. The time period had everything to do with the trial and was relevant in the...