To Kill a Mockingbird Glossary and Theme List BLSE Dramaturgy 2015 Brief biographical information Harper Lee— "Lee was born in Monroeville on April 28, 1926, the youngest child of Amasa Coleman Lee, a lawyer, and Frances Finch. She denies that the story of To Kill a Mockingbird is autobiographical, but her fiction was certainly influenced and shaped by her childhood experiences, shared with a brother and two sisters and fellow authortobe Truman Capote, a frequent summer visitor to Monroeville. As she described this period of her life in a 1965 interview, "We had to use our own devices in our play, for our entertainment. We didn't have much money . . . . We didn't have toys, nothing was done for us, so the result was that we lived in our imagination most of the time. We devised things; we were readers and we would transfer everything we had seen on the printed page to the backyard in the form of high drama." See more at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h1126#sthash.QkcX2tQP.fOUHXiBm.dpuf
Chronology of Nelle Harper Lee’s Life (Up to Publication of Horton Foote’s film adaptation of TKaM 1926 Nelle Harper Lee is born on 28 April in Monroeville to Amasa Coleman and Frances Finch Lee.
1927 Amasa Lee serves in the Alabama State Legislature. 1939
1929 Edits the Monroe Journal. 1947
1928 Truman Capote, a childhood friend of Harper Lee’s, lives with relatives in Monroeville, next door to the Lee family. 1933
1931 Scottsboro Incident occurs in March and begins litigation that will continue for twenty years.
1932 U.S. Supreme Court reverses the Scottsboro conviction and orders a new trial. Scottsboro youths retried.
1933 Judge Horton rejects jury’s finding of guilty and subsequently fails to be reelected.
1936 Another retrial of Scottsboro case.
1937 All major Alabama newspapers urge the release of the Scottsboro defendants.
1944 Harper Lee attends Huntingdon College, a private school for women in Montgomery, Alabama. 1945
Continues her undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama, where she writes for several student publications 1945 and in 194647 edits the RammerJammer, a humor magazine. To the October issue she contributes a oneact play 1950 satirizing a southern politician who proclaims that “Our very lives are being threatened by the hordes of evildoers full of sin. …SIN, my friends…who want to tear down all barriers of any kind between ourselves and our colored friends,” and who argues in favor of creating stricter voting requirements based, ironically, on the ability to interpret the constitution (an actual requirement for wouldbe voters in Alabama at the time). In the February issue she parodies country newspapers. One such is The Jackassonian Democrat, complete with the logo of two whitesheeted figures carrying burning crosses.
Enrolls in the University of Alabama School of Law to have stack privileges in the library. Her education includes a 1947 term as an exchange student at Oxford University in England.
Capote publishes his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms; one of the novel’s characters, the tomboyish Idabel, is 1948 based in part on Lee.
Lee moves to New York City, where she works as an airline reservation clerk for Eastern Air Lines and British Overseas Airways Corporation. Several years later Lee quits her job when she receives a loan from friends to write 1950 full time for a year.
The last of the Scottsboro boys is paroled.
Rosa Parks is arrested on 1 December for violating the bus segregation ordinance in Montgomery. Four days later 1955 the famous bus boycott commences in that city.
1955 A black woman, Autherine Lucy, attempts to enroll in the University of Alabama as a student, and eventually, 1956 following months of litigation, is forced to withdraw after mobs of whites begin rioting on the campus.
1956 The bus boycott ends on 21 December and buses are integrated.
Harper Lee completes the first draft of To Kill a Mockingbird (TKM) in June and delivers the manuscript to editor 1958 Tay Hohoff at J. B. Lippincott. Lee begins the final editing process.
The report of the murder of the Clutter family of Kansas appears in the New York Times on 15 November, catching the attention of Capote, who asks Lee to accompany him to Kansas to research a book on the case. By this time, TKM is entirely complete and in press. In December, Lee and Capote travel to Garden City, Kansas, where interviews of townspeople proceed. The two writers both make mental notes on each interview, returning at nights to the Warren Hotel to type the day’s information. Capote, in an interview with George Plimpton in the New York 1959 Times Book Review, details some of Lee’s assistance on the novel: “She went on a number of interviews; she typed her own notes, and I had these and could refer to them. She was extremely helpful in the beginning, when we weren’t making much headway with the town’s people, by making friends with the wives of the people I wanted to meet.” Of his friend, Capote said, “She is a gifted woman, courageous, and with a warmth that instantly kindles most people, however suspicious or dour” (January 16, 1966). Lee is dining with Capote at the chief detective’s house on the night the suspects are arrested.
Lee and Capote are present for the opening of the Clutter case trial on 22 March. This is one of many trips on which Lee accompanies Capote to Kansas, giving him encouragement when the investigation becomes discouraging. In July, official publication date of TKM, issued by J. B. Lippincott, is delayed until fall, when several book clubs 1960 choose it as a selection; it becomes a Literary Guild Selection, a Bookofthe Month Club Alternate, and a Readers Digest Condensed Book. TKM becomes a British Book Society Choice and is subsequently issued in the United Kingdom by Heinemann. TKM wins the Alabama Association Award in April. Lee also writes an article entitled “Love—in Other Words,” which is printed in the April issue of Vogue. In the spring, Robert Mulligan and Alan Pakula purchase the film rights to TKM, which Pakula produces and Mulligan directs for Universal Pictures. Gregory Peck is chosen for the part of Atticus Finch. Harper Lee declines an offer to write the screenplay; the task falls to Horton Foote. TKM wins the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in April. Harper Lee is the first woman to win the prize since Ellen Glasgow received it 1961 in 1942. By this time, the novel has sold five hundred thousand copies and has been translated into ten languages. In December, the novel wins the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference on Christians and Jews. Also, Lee’s “Christmas to Me” appears inMcCall’s. The story is an account of opening a card given to her by friends on Christmas morning: “You have one year off from your job to write whatever you please. Merry Christmas.” (Lee actually declined the money as a gift but accepted it as a loan, which she paid back with interest.)
Wins the Bestseller’s Paperback Award for the year. Two years after the publication ofTKM, it has sold two and a half million copies in hardback editions and two million paperback copies. In May, Lee receives an honorary doctorate from Mount Holyoke College. She also goes to Hollywood as a special consultant to producers of the film 1962 based on her novel. The film, To Kill a Mockingbird, premieres, and that winter is nominated for eight Academy Awards, ultimately winning four, including best actor (Peck) and best screenplay (Foote). Peck pays tribute to Lee, displaying Amasa Lee’s gold watch, which she had given the actor.
In April, Capote and Lee travel from Monroeville to Kansas, where the murderers of the Clutter family are on death 1963 row. Just hours before his execution, killer Perry Smith writes a letter to Capote and Lee.
1964 Publication of Horton Foote’s film script of TKM with foreword by Harper Lee.
Maycomb, AlabamaHarper Lee's hometown was Monroeville, Alabama. Although Maycomb is fictional, there are definite autobiographical elements in the play. Monroeville, Alabama celebrates the author and the work yearly by staging a production of the play. Two decades ago, McCoy told me, Monroe County drew about two thousand visitors a year. Now the annual tally was closer to twenty thousand and climbing, and a good fourfifths of thos folks say that the novel is what brought them. The museum's annual spring production on the play To Kill A Mockingbird draws visitors to a stage only Monroeville can offer. The first act unfolds on the lawn of the Old Courthouse Museum, where the breeze carries the scent of pin azaleas and mockingbirds sometimes alight on tree branches. The second act, the infamous trial, takes place inside, in the oldfashioned courtroom familiar to anyone who watches the movie. Every year, the performances sell out. (Mills, Marja, The Mockingbird Next Door: Life With Harper Lee. New York: Penguin Books. 2014. p.10) a useful website: http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/monroeville.html Also pertaining to Monroeville's yearly performance are two YouTube clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHpuMF0iMx4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YklUzAYs9Vg
Theme: porches (7) porchsitting is an important activity in the South. Considered a part of the home, the front porch functions as both a barrier and liminal space between the public and private spheres, as well as an important location of social exchange. While the interiors of houses and businesses may have adhered to the more strict racial barriers of the time, the porch was a space of racial interaction a place where the color line was both negotiated and maintained. Of all U.S. regions, the South traditionally most strongly forms its identity through an interaction with place, both geographically and socially. Porchsitting, as a distinctively Southern tradition that arises from the oppressive Southern heat and humidity, firmly anchors the story within the South and within Southern sociocultural conditions. The majority of action surrounding the home in this play takes place on porches, making their physical representation in relation to the rest of Maycomb crucial to the thematic coherence of the production. (http://www.cornellcollege.edu/history/courses/stewart/HIS26032006/05%20five/Menu.htm) mimosa (8) Albizia julibrissin, or the Chinese silk or mimosa tree, is a common ornamental tree in southern yards. Considered invasive, it is still prized for its smell (a cross between ripe peach and caramelized sugar) and its unique pink “puff” flowers. It is said to symbolize daintiness and sensitivity when gifted.
Mockingbird (8, 103): for a helpful description, including clips of sound and video, look at the website, http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/videos
Miss Maudie: …Mockingbirds just make music. They don't eat up people's gardens; don't nest in corncribs; they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out. That why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (8) Aside from the connection to innocence (the innocence of children, the innocence of Tom Robinson) to whom or what does the mockingbird refer? Mockingbirds have the ability to imitate the sounds of many other birds. Does this make them a kind of everyman in the bird world? What's notable in both the play and novel are the many hours and hours and days that Scout, Jem and Dill spend making up dramatizations, first of popular stories and then of Boo Radley. Their imitations, a kind of mimesis, connect to the mockingbird. Another possible connection is the simple fact that children often mimic what they see without completely understanding what they're saying or doing. Atticus is a very intentional parent, wanting to set an example for his children and wanting them to see other examples worth following—Mrs. Dubose, for one. Childrearing and family traits are frequently mentioned in both the novel and the book. A finch is a finch. A Ewell is a Ewell. Finally, it's worth noting the thoughtless and imitative quality of gossip. Miss Stephanie is an excellent example of this. It's clear in both the play and the book that people will talk, and they do. Finally, in describing what mockingbirds do, Maudie alludes to an implicit social code that encompasses many of the characters. Not only is the mockingbird doing what it was made to do, it's also a good neighbor. It doesn't take from others or go where it's not welcome. Maudie gets lines in the play that she doesn't get in the novel. For example, in the book she splits the mockingbird line with Atticus. Atticus says it's a sin. Maudie explains what Atticus means. In the play, she gets the whole line, and she says it to Jem. In the book, Atticus says it to Scout, advising her on how to get along with her teacher and with other people she meets in life.
Dump truck (8) and highway construction and the New Deal: FDR was elected in 1932 and initiated a series of domestic programs to combat the Great Depression. Historians often categorize these efforts into the “Three R’s”: relief, recovery, and reform. Relief programs like the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked to provide temporary support in the form of jobs to semi and unskilled laborers. WPA was the largest relief program in history up to that point. FDR defied Hoover's advice against maintaining the “traditional taboo against the 'dole.'” Before the WPA, FDR also “created the Federal Emergency Relief Agency (FERA) with authority to make direct cash payments to those with no other means of support.” Recovery efforts were meant to help draw the country back out of the depression. Agencies like the Agricultural Adjustment Agency (AAA), to regulate production and prices of agricultural products, and the National Recovery Administration (NRA), to stimulate industrial growth, were created. Reform efforts targeted the causes of the depression with organizations like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation(FDIC) and the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC). The Public Works Administration (PWA) improved public infrastructure like roads, bridges and public buildings. Later in the 30s and into the postwar period, the interstate highway system was one ongoing project that put laborers to work on public infrastructure. This era was partly characterized by a celebration of man’s transformative power over nature, hence the romanticization of a job requiring only semiskilled labor, like driving a dump truck. running a still (9): Scout talks about Atticus and says in his outrage that people talk as if he is “Running a still.” Her flippant response belies the truth that some poor, rural families survived on money from illegal moonshine made from stills, particularly during the Great Depression. Even today, unless you have a license, it is illegal to distill your own whiskey. Since the early days of the country, law enforcement has gone after illegal distillers since they don't pay taxes on their products.
Johnson grass (9): http://mdc.mo.gov/yourproperty/problemplantsandanimals/invasiveplants/johnsongrasscontrol Sorghum halepense, an extremely invasive species of grass that reproduces via rhizome. Even when removed, rhizome debris can reroot, making the grass difficult to eradicate. It originated in the Middle East and is attracted to warm climates. Highly aggressive, Johnson grass, left unchecked in fallow fields will crowd out other plants. This is almost a throwaway line for Miss Stephanie, but the book suggests a thematic concern in the attention paid to horticulture. In the book, Scout observes about Miss Maudie an easygoing, unflappable nature—except when she detects a blade of nut grass in her yard. "She picked up the limp sprout and squeezed her thumb up its tiny stalk. Microscopic grains oozed out. 'Why, one sprig of nut grass can ruin a whole yard. Look here. When it comes fall this dries up and the wind blows it all over Maycomb County.' Miss Maudie's face likened such an occurrence unto an Old Testament pestilence." Understanding Lee's use of horticulture as a metaphor for the human condition, characters like Miss Maudie are fierce guardians against corruption and depravity—Bob Ewell is described as irredeemable.
"nothing to fear but fear itself" (10): from FDR's first inaugural address. "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days." http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5057
Worth noting the elaboration on fear in the speech: "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." This can be read as a pep talk for Atticus or the children; it could be read as it was intended, an admonition to work through difficult and challenging times. Theme: Calpurnia’s characterization in the play versus the novel
Audiences familiar with Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar will know Calpurnia as Caesar’s wife: humble, shy, and childless. “She is not problematized,” the actress playing Calpurnia in the Breadloaf production commented. Comparing Calpurnia across the film, the play, and the novel, Calpurnia is indeed a different figure in each. A contentious relationship between Calpurnia and Scout opens the play. In the novel, Calpurnia is a more clear surrogate for the Finches’ lost mother. She has “More education than most colored folks “ (Lee 32) Calpurnia is also the one who teaches Scout important values, such as how to be a gracious host, and important skills, such as how to read and write. Significantly, given the lack of a female presence in the house, Calpurnia helps Scout to realize that, “There was some skill involved in being a girl” (Lee 154). After an important experience taking Scout and Jem to her church in the novel, Calpurnia explains to Scout why she “code switches” from one kind of dialogue to another explaining the importance of audience and tone. After this lesson, Scout asks, “Can I come see you sometimes?” (Lee 167). The film version places Miss Maudie more squarely in the maternal role, relegating Calpurnia exclusively to the functions of a domestic servant. Maudie appears at breakfast in the film on Scout’s first day of school, the day she is forced to wear a dress for the first time. By sitting at the table next to Atticus and offering reassurance to Scout while Calpurnia reprimands her about wrinkling the dress, Maudie assumes the function of kind mother. She even seems to appear as a love interest to Atticus, as she offers him a knowing glance about Scout’s reticence to wear the dress. The movie, like the novel, has Scout as narrator. The Breadloaf production, by having Miss Maudie perform some functions of narrator and therefore an observer rather than participant, reinstitutes Calpurnia as the main parental female in the Finch home. Having Reverend Sykes visit Calpurnia as a congregant is another way that the play dramatizes and complicates her role. While she is not as directly connected to their religious education as she is in the book when she physically takes the children to her own church, by being the cause of their exposure to the music of the “colored Church,” and their first direct exposure to the nuances of the fraught relationship between the Ewells and the black community, the play makes Calpurnia’s presence an important one to Scout’s maturation. As an individual character she is indeed not problematized in the same way that she is in the novel, but she nonetheless provides cultural and spiritual education through her presence.
Rabbit Tobacco (10): In maligning the Radley house, Miss Stephanie notes that the least the Radleys could do is attempt to get rid of the “rabbit tobacco.” Rabbit Tobacco appears most prevalent around the middle of August; the silverygreen leaves of this plant can be seen along the hillsides of the Deep South. Rabbit Tobacco is not used very much today, but has medicinal properties. The primary healing chemicals found in Rabbit Tobacco are called “Tepenes” and have demonstrated an ability to positively affect cancer and viral infections such as the common cold and influenza. Interesting that like the Radleys, rabbit tobacco is deceptive: it appears to be an invasive eyesore, but has healing potential.
Hoover carts (10): Indigenous to Edgecombe County, NC, the Hoover Cart was a form of transportation used by poor farmers during the Depression, and would be decorated with antiHoover/proAdlai Stevenson signage. They were “built by taking the rear wheels off of a car and attaching them to a cart. The cart was then pulled by either mule or horse.” morbid (10): Of a person, mental state, etc.: characterized by excessive gloom or apprehension, or (in later use) by an unhealthy preoccupation with disease, death, or other disturbing subject; given to unwholesome brooding. Lydia Pinkham bottles (11): First appearing in 1875, Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound was advertised as a cureall for a variety of “women’s” ailments. Interestingly, by 1905, with the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, it was already widely known that Lydia Pinkham’s was approximately 1520% alcohol, so hiding gin in such a bottle would have been similar to hiding it in a schnapps bottle (i.e. incredibly obvious).
Old Sarum (12): in the novel this is a part of town populated mostly by Cunninghams which is described as “the nearest thing to a gang ever seen in Maycomb.” The text strongly implies that they are moonshine runners, meaning that not only do they run an illegal still, they sell the product on the black market.
1930s insane asylums (12):
some of the implements that were outlawed in NY state from use in asylums in the 1930s.
Scuppernong (14): Mrs Dubose says that Jem broke down her “scuppernong arbour” (14). Scuppernong is a cultivated muscadine (species of grape) with yellowishgreen plumflavored fruits. It can make a sweet aromatic ambercolored wine.
What church does Calpurnia attend? In the book, according to the adult Scout narrator, Calpurnia goes to First Purchase African M.E., the first church in their region to have been purchased by freed blacks. She adds that on weekdays white men gambled in the church.
Theme: Colored Churches in Alabama in the early twentieth century
Mrs. DuBose chastises Reverend Sykes when he appears with choir members to visit Calpurnia. She notes, “You must confine your choir to the colored church” ( Sergel 14). Indeed, the separation of these church communities would have been important both because they approached religious practice so differently, and also possibly because of some fear of the power of black churches. During the years immediately following the Civil War, black members withdrew from churches, sometimes with protest from white church members, at other times with approval and assistance. According to the website, The Encyclopedia of Alabama, “Alabama’s civil rights movement largely began in black churches, which were able to mobilize their members into a mass movement…..Liturgical churches, such as Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Episcopal congregations, followed carefully prescribed rituals for public worship. Evangelical churches were pulpitcentered; they were sermonbased and followed unstructured and often spontaneous patterns of worship and emphasized the Word (both the authority of the Bible and the proclamation of the Word in the form of a sermon). Years of proclamation often transformed uneducated black and white preachers into spellbinding orators with devoted followings, as influential over the politics of their congregants as they were over their theology.”
In the novel, Cal takes Scout and Jem to her church, the First Purchase African M.E. church. Scout describes this church as, “an ancient paint peeled frame building, the only church in Maycomb with a steeple and a bell, called First Purchase because it was paid for from the first earnings of freed slaves” (Lee 157). The characterization of the place and the experience to Scout is largely positive, as even the cemetery appears “happy” to her. She is surprised that “Reverend Sykes used his pulpit more freely to express his views on individual lapses from grace” (Lee 162). The play, by having Reverend Sykes pay a “special visit,” bringing the Church to Calpurnia, loses some of the impact of the political and social importance of Calpurnia’s church community.
Theme: Church Music
In the play, upon hearing choir members from Calpurnia’s church, Jem asks, “What’s the singing?” (Sergel 16) In the novel, when the music begins at Calpurnia’s church, Scout asks anxiously, “How’re we gonna sing it if there ain’t any hymn books?” (Lee 161). The different musical style of Calpurnia’s church would have seemed strange to Scout and Jem. In reporting on the type of singing known as “lining,” the style that Scout experiences, an NPR article points out that this singing tradition is carried on today:
“The hymns of the Old Regular Baptist Church are sung in the socalled "linedout" style brought to America by British colonists. It can be heard in the town of Sassafras, Ky., hidden in a hollow between mountainsides covered with sugar maple and yellow buckeye and shot through with veins of bituminous coal. On a Saturday morning in September, several hundred men and women — many solidly built, with square faces — have gathered in a Depressionera building to worship and sing. They settle into greencushioned pews in a large, welllit sanctuary. One of the men sitting behind the pulpit, under the picture of a kneeling Jesus, feels moved to start a song. "Let milk and honey flow..." He sings a line of a hymn. Once the congregation recognizes it, it repeats the line in unison, its voices swelling in a minor mode. This is what's called linedout hymnody. "When shall I reach that happy place..." Unlike the Southern a cappella tradition of sacred harp or shapenote singing, linedout hymns have no musical notation. People listen, and they sing. The tradition began when churches didn't have songbooks.”
Entailment (22): An entailment is a legal restriction placed upon the uses of a property. In the case of the Cunninghams’ entailment, it seems that the Cunningham property is not able to be sold, but instead must pass down through the family line. Since the Cunninghams have been hit particularly hard by The Great Depression, this would severely limit their ability to generate cash. hickory nuts (22): “Hickory fruits consist of hardshelled nuts, surrounded by a woody husk. The husk varies among species as to how easily it splits and whether the sutures are winged along part or all of their length. The nuts are edible, although they vary in size and taste.” Pecans are a variety of hickory nut and considered to be one of the best tasting, while some other varieties, while edible, taste bad. Considering the text explicitly mentions pecans as gracing the Radley yard, it would be safe to assume that these hickory nuts were of one of the less desirable varieties. household income during the Depression (22): “In 1933, the average family income had dropped to $1,500, 40 percent less than the 1929 average family income of $2,300.”
Smilax (22)
Atticus notes that Mr. Cunningham had paid for his services by giving him “smilax and holly” at Christmas. Smilax is a foraged plant that grows wild, all parts of the plant were edible. The roots would be used for making Sarsparilla, the young shoots could be eaten cooked, and the berries eaten, chewed, or used as a thickening agent. While it had little to no market value when unprocessed, it was an incredibly versatile plant. The plant gets its name from a Greek myth in which the forbidden love between the wood nymph, Smilex, and the mortal, Krokus, was finally consumated when Artemis took pity on the two and changed them into the brambly vine smilex and the flowering crocus, so they could grow and bloom together forever. birddog (27): U.S. a gun dog trained to retrieve birds. As a verb, it means to scout.
Rabies (30): As Scout and Jem consider “Old Tim’s” odd behavior, they recognize he is a “mad dog.” Rabies in dogs is characterized by extreme behavioral changes, including overt aggression and attack behavior. Rabies is a fastmoving virus.
Heck—Tate (Hecate): The sheriff’s name suggests the Greek goddess Hecate. She is associated often with crossroads or entrance ways. The idea that Heck represents an entrance or crossroads is interesting, especially given his role at the end of the play in convincing Atticus to ignore the law in favor of letting the “dead bury the dead.” He presents a crossroads of sorts to Atticus; Heck gives him the opportunity to frame Bob Ewell’s death not as a murder, but as an accident. By doing so, Heck gives Atticus an “entrance” to another way of looking at justice that falls outside the law.
Camellia Bush (35):
Jem tears off the tops of Mrs. Dubose’s Camellia bushes. With dense evergreen foliage, Camellias’ bright blossoms are notable. Flowering in winter and spring, camellias offer ruffled blossoms in vibrant shades of pink, white, red, and even multiple colors. thirteen dollars (37) $13.00 in 1935 had the same buying power as $227.80 in 2015.
Ivanhoe (45): As punishment, Jem must reads Ivanhoe to Mrs Dubose. Ivanhoe, by Sir Walter Scott, is set in 1194, after the failure of the Third Crusade, when many of the Crusaders were still returning to their homes in Europe. The legendary Robin Hood, initially under the name of Locksley, is also a character in the story, as are his "merry men.” There’s a fun irony that Jem has to read about an outlaw as punishment for being something of a scofflaw himself.
Maycomb County Courthouse (46):
Miss Maudie says that the jail is Maycombe’s “only conversation piece”— stating that it looks like a Victorian “privy.”
Jitney Jungle (52) Miss Stephanie says she is going to the “jitney jungle” wearing a surprising hat and gloves. Jitney Jungle was a chain of supermarkets that began in Jacksonville, Mississippi. The word “Jitney” could mean a shared taxi, or could refer to an old term for a nickel. squallin (59): The action of the verb to squall; loud discordant screaming. five dollars (59): $5.00 in 1935 had the same buying power as $87.62 in 2015. hold with (60): to maintain allegiance to; to side with, be of the party of; mod. colloq. to agree with or approve of. This usage seems to be important, as it gives the idea of Bob aligning himself with the more respectable Heck Tate. relief checks (60): Part of F.D.R.’s New Deal, the three Rs—Relief, Reform, and Recovery were thought to bring stability to the country through stimulating the economy, correcting financial institutions/ practices, and ensuring that the public would not be affected by such a financial collapse again.
Chiffarobe (62)
A piece of furniture having space for clothes in drawers and hanging browbeating (67): To bear down, discourage, or oppose, with stern, arrogant, or insolent looks or words; to snub, to bully; ‘to depress with severe brows, and stern or lofty looks’
Cotton gin (67): Tom Robinson injured his hand in a cotton gin. This machine was used to speed up the process of separating cotton from seed.
Got in a fight… (69): Tom's eye dialect here is noticeably lighter than both Bob and Mayella's. I had to serve 'cause I couldn't pay the fine. chillun (70): a child slap year (71): there are no recorded instances of slap being used as an adjective. buck (76): n. the male of several animals. Here: offensive. A male American Indian or Australian Aborigine; any black male. So buck Aborigine, buck Indian, buck Maori, buck Negro, buck nigger. Also (illogically) buckwoman. Chiefly U.S. and Austral.
Theme: respectable Negro (80): here we see quite explicitly that Tom Robinson fits into a common trope in portrayals of blacks in postwar America that of the ‘respectable Negro.’ Noted in 1950 by the Council on the Harlem Theater, many dramas from this era often feature a quiet, respectful, highly sympathetic black character and are told through the lens of a “good” white character who must help him out of his difficulty, suggesting that white people “faced psychological barriers and could not identify with central, sympathetic Negro characters.”
Thomas Jefferson (80): The reference to Thomas Jefferson in the play is a compression of a larger point in the novel. In his closing speech, Atticus comments of what I presume to be the New Deal agenda of FDR. "Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the Yankees and the distaff side [note: I believe this is a reference to Eleanor Roosevelt] of the Executive Branch in Washington are fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year grace, 1935, for certain people to use this phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions. The most ridiculous example I can think of it that the people who run public education promote the stupid and idle along with the industrious—because all men are created equal, educators will gravely tell you, the children left behind suffer terrible feelings of inferiority." He goes on to enumerate the ways in which we are not all created equal before turning his attention to Justice. In the eyes of the law, we are and we enjoy equal protection and equal access. It's interesting to note here the critiques of public education that inform the story. Scout's school experience is miserable, not confined to her inept first grade teacher. Atticus is entirely selftaught. Cal, too, and she taught her son to read. Uncle Jack did attend medical school. Schools fail the county children and reinforce the towncountry divide. There is an interesting mix of elitism, meritocracy and compassion in Atticus' sociopolitical views. These are our neighbors, and we treat them with respect and compassion (an important social code). We may not agree, but we respect. With regard to our talents, we do not boast and we use them for good. Referring to talents as a marksman, Maudie explains that Atticus eschewed riflery because he knew he had an unfair advantage. The Ewells, objectionable and rotten to the core as they are depicted, enjoy a set of standards and codes that others don't. Atticus explains that for some, bending the law is the right thing to do; in the case of the Ewells, it helps to ensure that the children get fed. Some of us are not as blessed by intelligence and natural ability and so we must deal with them more flexibly.
“Not right you children should see such things.” (87): Play includes NO black reactions save this one and Calpurnia's previous groan.
"Seems like only children weep" (88): no black people are crying? Are you fucking serious with this shit? Harper Lee presents a Romantic view of children and childhood in this novel. Children begin life innocently and experience changes them/corrupts them. Children are wise. Consider the first paragraph of an article Lee wrote for McCall's magazine, "When Children Discover America," as an example of her understanding of children and childhood: "Wordsworth was right when he said that we trail clouds of glory as we come into the world, that we are born with a divine sense of perception. As we grow older, the world closes in on us, and we gradually lose the freshness of viewpoint that we had as children. That is why I think children should get to know this country while they are young." http://web.archive.org/web/20070429071626/www.chebucto.ns.ca/culture/HarperLee/when.html missionary teas (89): a gathering held by members of the church which would serve tea and cakes at no charge with the goal of collecting donations and bring new members into the mission. Coming from the idiosyncratic Miss Maudie, this does not seem to be a purely favorable comparison. somebody just walked over my grave (96): meaning to feel a sudden chill and wave of apprehension, the phrase is originally said by Aunt Alexandra, who does not appear in the dramatization. The saying originates from a folk superstition whereby the chill originates from someone walking over the future site of one’s death or burial.
Additional Themes: False Charge of Rape: Some notable cases of false rape accusations serve as a backdrop of this book: The Scottsboro Boys and the case of Emmett Till. Scottsboro Boys: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scottsboro/scottsb.htm
The Scottsboro Boys case dates back to 1931, four years before the setting of Mockingbird. Nine black boys were accused of raping two white women on a train. The boys were given incompetent legal representation, two of them were quite young (13 and 14) but tried as adults. They were found guilty by an allwhite jury and sentenced to death. The case got national attention, it was tried again and retried (twice appealed to the US Supreme Court), and among its uneasy outcomes (some of the boys served prison sentences, one was shot in prison by a guard) was this good result: the Supreme Court ruling to require that blacks serve on juries. One of the women plaintiffs dropped her accusation of rape, admitting that it was made up.
In the context of the high profile Scottsboro Boys and Emmett Till cases, sociologists, intellectuals, journalists began to investigate a pattern of false rape accusations of black men. The Rape Complex and the complexities arising from these false accusations refers to the myth of the black man intent on raping white women. Initially, it was Communists and radical left activists who took up this inquiry. In fact, the legal defense arm of the NAACP would not take the case of the Scottsboro Boys because they stood to lose ground politically by taking on a rape case—these were too emotionally charged. The Communist Party took it on instead. Thirty years later the cause of the black male falsely accused of rape was taken up by people who held more centrist views.
Enter the GilesJohnson case, 1961. Two brothers, John and James Giles and a friend, Joseph Johnson are accused by Joyce Roberts, age 16, of rape in Montgomery County, MD. All three young men were convicted and sentenced to death by lethal gas. A citizen committee formed in response to the harshness of the sentence. As the committee looked further into the case, led especially by the thorough investigation of one its members, they became convinced of the young mens' innocence. Ultimately, the charges against the men were dropped when the accuser chose not to reappear in court for a retrial—the court of public sentiment had demoralized her, calling into her question her morality, her sexual behavior and her mental health. This case signifies a significant shift. Whereas before, juries were unlikely to find a black man innocent of the charges of rape (informed by a myth that black men are intent on raping white women), by the time of this case, a new myth informed the thinking of such rape cases: white women (and by extension all women) lie about rape. THE GILESJOHNSON CASE AND THE CHANGING POLITICS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE 1960S UNITED STATES Jacquet, Catherine O. Journal of Women's History25.3 (Fall 2013): 188211,250.
Atticus Finch and Parnell One of the interesting things about Brian’s pairing of Blues with TKaM is the casting of Steven Thorne as both Atticus Finch and Parnell. It is clear that Harper Lee’s father is the major source for the character Atticus Finch. Her father’s career as an attorney and the fact that he defended two African American’s who were accused of murder make this comparison trivial. Since Harper Lee’s father, Amasa Coleman Lee, was also the editor and publisher of the Monroeville newspaper (and indeed his career with the newspaper outlived his career as a criminal defense attorney since his defense of the two African American men was his last criminal defense) a fruitful comparison might be made to the character of Parnell in Blues for Mr. Charlie.
Perspective in TKaM Perhaps one of the reasons for the beloved nature of TKaM as a novel is the compelling quality of Scout’s perspective. Her experiential journey and the multifaceted ways in which she develops as a character throughout the novel have endeared her to generations of Americans. It is interesting, therefore, that Sergel’s adaptation does not go further in seeking to preserve Scout’s nature as narrator, or at least something of the essence of seeing that story through the perspective of Scout. Of further interest may be the fact that Harper Lee’s original formulation of the novel, Go Set a Watchman, which will be published on July 14, 2015, is told from the perspective of an adult Scout and only features the child Scout’s perspective in flashback scenes, which were ultimately expanded to become the extant TKaM. In some sense then, erasing or eroding in Sergel’s adaptation the very fact that the events of TKaM the novel are seen from a childlike perspective would seem to miss a very key element of the difference between Harper Lee’s two books Go Set a Watchman and TKaM, the shift in perspective from childhood to adulthood.
Point of View or Compassion v. Empathy: Atticus: "You see, you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view." (21)
Observations from the book: 1. Maycomb is hot; ladies bathe twice daily. 2. Finch's landing—Atticus descends from cotton growers. Calpurnia has always worked for the Finches. Atticus's father (grandfather?) encouraged her to read. 3. Calpurnia came to Atticus and his wife when Jem was born. 4. The Radley's never participated in the social codes of Maycomb. Mr. Radley held extreme religious views. After he died, older son Nathan moved in to the house (from Florida). 5. Re: Jem's accepting Dill's dare. In the book, three months have passed, Dill has urged it and Jem has considered it. As in the play, Jem merely gets the yard and touches the house. 6. Noteworthy: Dill is the one most drawn to Boo, most curious about Boo. It's suggested that he identifies with Boo, because Dill is neglected in his immediate family. Dill frequently expresses an interest in reassuring Boo, of attempting to befriend him. Borders on obsession for Dill. 7. The geography of Maycomb—the town folk and the country folk. Much is learned about town in the second chapter describing Scout's first days of school. 8. Such humor inherent in the narration: the adult Scout looking back on who she was, how she felt, what she understood and what her world was like. 9. What is lost in not including the classroom scene in the stage production? Chapters 2 and 3. So many social codes and the stark differences between town and country that will come to bear on future events in the story. Particularly, the scene with Burris Ewell and Atticus's unwavering assertion that they must treat their neighbors compassionately and respectfully. 10. In chapter 3 Atticus advises Scout to climb into the skin and walk around in it. In the play he says this to Jem, which to me significantly alters the dramatic center of this story. The book relates Scout's coming of age, so his saying this to Scout early on in the book puts her character arc in motion. The play is a courtroom drama. This line in the play sets Jem up to manage the bad news of Tom's losing his case. It also serves to characterize Atticus. 11. It's Cecil Jacobs who taunts Scout, not Walter Cunningham, Jr. 12. Interesting moment when Cal takes Scout and Jem to her church. One of the congregation, Lula, objects to having white people attend her church. Cal speaks to her in a way that surprised Scout and Jem. Later she gives them a lesson on 'code switching.' 13. Reference to The Impurity of Women doctrine in chapter 12. 14. Aunt Alexandra discusses the streaks of the many families in Maycomb, unlike in the book; there Miss Stephanie speaks this line, but she does so in a ridiculous, throwaway manner, made sort of comic by the entrance of Heck Tate. Aunt Alexandra speaks this with authority, and Atticus in rebutting her raises an important point that everyone in Maycomb is most likely related to each other. 15. The scene outside the jail points to the romantic ideal of children. 16. Dolphus Raymond, reputed town drunk; another person who must live on the edges. This is a society that has clear boundaries. He has mixed race children. 17. Townsfolk rarely sat on juries which were mostly comprised of white male farmers. The townspeople were struck or excused.