To Kill a Mockingbird

Many things usually inspire different works of literature. Some artists are just creative
and imagine stories; others are inspired by the events happening within their immediate
environment, while others write fiction that is based on their own personal experiences. Harper
Lee’s story, To Kill a Mockingbird, is a fictional story based on her life. The story depicts certain
instances of her childhood. The events described in the novel take place in the Deep South
during the Great Depression. The events in the novel mirror events that took place in Lee’s real
life as a child growing up in the South.
Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. She was the daughter of a lawyer. Her
father served as a defense counsel. At one point in his career as a lawyer, he defended two
African American men who had been accused of killing a white storekeeper. The two men, a
father, and his son were later convicted and hanged. Lee was born in 1926. She shares her
birthday with Scout, a character in the novel. There are comparisons between the novel and
Lee’s life. Lee, however, insists that she is not the narrator in the novel and that the story, is
fictional, therefore does not reflect any of her childhood experiences (Mohammed & Abd
Alhadi, 2020). However, that is far from reality.
The novel’s pivotal moment in the trial of a black man named Tom Robinson. He was
accused of raping a white girl. Robinson’s lawyer is Atticus. He acts as the defense lawyer
(Mulligan, 1962). He provides ample evidence and reasoning to prove the innocence of the
accused man. However, he loses the case. Robinson tries to escape jail and is shot, dying on the
spot. The main story in the plot mirrors Lee’s childhood experiences. His lawyer father is
represented in the story by Atticus. Robinson represents the African Americans who had been

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accused of murdering a white woman. Instead of murder, Le replaces the case with rape.
However, the flow is similar since the man is accused of raping a white girl, while the two men
that Lee’s father represented in court were arrested for allegedly killing a white woman. This is
not a mere coincidence but rather an intentional effort to represent Lee’s childhood in her book.
According to Bloom (2004), some of the events and characters in the book and film were directly
influenced by her lived experiences in the South. She shared her childhood experiences in a
somewhat fictional story. The story, however is not entirely fictional as it represents certain real-
life experiences experienced by Lee as a young girl growing up in Alabama.
Overall, To Kill a Mockingbird portrays the world through the lens of a child. The
narration in the novel is from a child’s perspective, and it is evident in the language used as well
as the point of view. The narrator explores issues faced growing up as a young child in the South.
The story in the novel reflects Lee’s life. There are pivotal moments and events that mirror those
experienced by Lee. Her father was a lawyer, and so was Scout’s father. Atticus defends a black
man, and Lee’s father defends two black men who were later killed, just like Robinson in the
novel. The similarities are not a coincidence. The fictional story is not entirely fictional but is
based on Lee’s childhood experiences.

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References

Bloom, H. (2004). Bloom’s guide: Harper Lee’s to kill a mockingbird.
Mohammed, M. A., & Abd Alhadi, M. H. (2020). Child Narration in Harper Lee’s “To Kill a
Mockingbird.” Koya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(1), 150-
155.
Mulligan, R. (1962). To Kill a Mockingbird [DVD]. Hollywood; Universal Pictures.