Statement: World of The Play

To Kill a Mockingbird is a play set in the midst of the Great Depression. The 1930's were a time of great economic struggle in America. Even lawyers such as Atticus Finch, who are very prosperous today, were affected by the downward spiral of the American economy. The Great Depression is said to have been caused by a sudden collapse of the stock market on November 29th, 1929, this day is also referred to as Black Tuesday. It was common for people to work as much as they could find work and be creative in paying debts, such as paying with crops like Mr. Cunningham does. Education also was effected by the depression. Many people pulled their children out of school to work or the schools lost a lot of funding, so many people were not educated properly during this time.

The 1930's were also a time of great racial tension. African Americans still faced much prejudice especially in the southern states where Alabama is located. Everything was segregated and it was not looked nicely upon mixing with different races. Being from African American descent did not make it helpful to you when you were on trial, because the legal system was still very bias at that time. There was a case in 1931 in Alabama called the Scottsboro Trial and it involved African American boys being charged with raping two white women. They were not guilty, but convicted for the charge solely based on their race. Later, they were proven innocent, but only after serving a long sentence in jail. This would be a common thing in America at that time as racial tension was high. The Klu Klux Klan was known for causing trouble, but had subsided at the time this play is set but the ideals they held were still very common among the majority.

This play set fictionally in Maycomb County is known to be based on Harper Lee’s hometown of Monroeville, Alabama in Monroe County. This town is very small, but proud to be associated with the story. It holds a production of this play every year downtown that travels to many different locations as it tells the story of Scout and Atticus Finch. It is also been stated by Lee that the character of Dill is actually based on her childhood neighbor, Truman Capote who is another famous author.