To kill a mockingbird

“To kill a Mocking Bird” is a bildungsroman type of book; it tells the story of a girl named Jean Louise Finch (Scout), her brother Jeremy Atticus Finch (Jem), and their friend Charles Baker Harris (Dill). The book focuses on how they see their life; they tell the story trough their innocent eyes. The book’s major event (Tom Robinson’s trial) is based on a real trial, The Scottsboro Boys Trial,were nine boys were accused of raping two white women. The nine boys were sentenced to death penalty. Harper lee’s novel “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is based on the trial of the Scottsboro boys, infarct the characters and main events are based on the real trial.

Atticus Finch in “To kill A Mocking Bird” is strongly influenced by Sam Leibowitz, the lawyer that defended the nine boys in theScottsboro Boys Trial. In fact, the two of them were incredible lawyers, and had to deal with a case that was very challenging. As a matter of fact in a part of the book his own daughter, Scout, is getting confused about her father’s job, “Do you defend niggers, Atticus”(lee.75). She asked do to the fact that the case had become very polemic in society. “not only a Finch waiting on tables but one in thecourthouse lawing for niggers!”(lee.101). Leibowitz case with the Scottsboro Boys was very criticized, because it was related with another skin colored human. It was “questioned because of his decision to take such a difficult case”; defending an Afro-American of “raping” a white woman was hardly impossible to win. Another similarity these two characters have is the straight and fair way act withthe cases they had to deal with. Leibowitz “was serious in his quest for justice”. At the same time Atticus was a gentleman. His reasons for defending Tom were simple “ the main one is if [he] didn’t, [he] couldn’t hold up [his] head in town, [he] couldn’t represent this country in the legislature.”(lee.75) It was a simple case of dignity, honor, honesty, and humanness. In brief, a powerfulinfluence that Atticus obtained from Leibowitz was that after they lost the trial, they became victims of threats. Leibowitz “became the target of death threats in Alabama”, after Tom was sentences guilty “Bob Ewell stopped on the post office corner, spat in his face, and told him he’d get him if it took the rest of his life” (lee.207)

Ruby Bates and Victoria Price the plaintiffs in the ScottsboroBoys Trial, were the essence needed to create Mayella Ewell. Bates and Price lived “in a poor neighborhood of Huntsville”, Mayella had the same economic conditions; “she was a victim of cruel poverty and ignorance” (lee.203). During court Mayella was very insecure and her version was very confusing. When Atticus starts to ask questions about his relationship with her father, and how was his fatherin house, she hesitated lots of times, in fact she was revealed, “[she] looked at her father.” “Then Atticus asked, except when he’s drinking?” “[She] nodded” (lee.183). She was so focused on making her version fit in her father’s that she didn’t think clear. When they figured out Bates and Price had lied, “Leibowitz proposed that price made up the charges to protect herself and Bates”. Mayella wasin the same position; she needed to lie about what really happened because that was not seen in a very good way. This is clear in the courtroom when Atticus says, “guilt, gentlemen, because it was guilt that motivated her… she knew full well the enormity of her offense”(lee.203)

Not only did Harper lee inspire her characters in the Scottsboro Boys Trial. But the societies were very alike. Inthe society of the Scottsboro boys, lots of racism was going on, in fact white women were not able to be with black mans. “Bates, who was whit had once been arrested for hugging a Blackman in public”. Maycomb didn’t accept white women flirting with Afro-Americans; this is very specified when Atticus says “but because her desires were stronger than the code she was breaking, she persisted in...