The Reality of To Kill A Mockingbird Essay -- Harper Lee Kill Mockingb

The Reality of To Kill A Mockingbird The novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, takes place during a racially intense time in history. Harper Lee’s novel was intended to bring a harsh sense of reality to the real world, and demonstrate how it really was during this time in history. This novel is set in Maycomb, Alabama, somewhere during the time period of 1925-1935. Times were hard for the citizens of Maycomb during this period, because of the depression. There are many fictional events in this novel related to non-fictional racial events in history. Leading the list of racial crimes would be hate crimes, such as lynching. Hate crimes are violent acts against people, property, or organizations due to the group to which they belong or identify with. Hate crimes are sadly a tragic part of American history. By far the largest determinant of hate crimes is racial bias, with African Americans the group at greatest risk. (â€Å"Hate Crimes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  1) Lynching was one of the most popular methods of carrying out a hate crime. The term lynching is generally believed to be derived from the name of a Virginia justice of the peace, Charles Lynch, who ordered extralegal punishment for Tory acts during the American Revolution. Frontier settlements in the United States often lacked established law enforcement agencies and, instead, exercised summary justice through vigilantes. Western pioneers punished murder, rape, horse thievery, and other capital crimes by resorting to lynching. (Lynching 1) In the South, during the period 1880 to 1940, there was deep-seated and all-pervading hatred and fear of the Negro. There was an annual average of sixty-two lynchings for the years 1910 to 1919. However, beginning in 1923 lynchings bega... ...ill A Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1960. "Lynching." . 03/14/2001. Encarta Reference. 03/14/2001. <http://afroamhistory.about.com/homework/afroamhistory/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm ?site=http%3A%2F%2Fencarta.msn.com%2Findex%2Fconciseindex%2F63%2F 0633E000.htm%3Fz%3D1%26pg%3D2%26br%3D1>. "‘SCOTTSBORO BOYS’ CASE A LANDMARK." Media Kit Resources. 03/13/2001. Decatur/Morgan County Convention & Visitors Bureau. 03/13/2001. <http://www.decaturcvb.org/Pages/Press/scotboy.html>. Stone, Suzanne R. . "A look at the 20th Century." The Augusta Chronicle 04/04/1999. . 03/13/2001 http://celebrate2000.augustachronicle.com/ stories/040499/his_1924.shtml>. THE CASE OF THE "SCOTTSBORO BOYS. Ed. Kelley, Robin D. G. 03/13/2001. University of Pennsylvania. 03/13/2001. <http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/scottsboro.html>.