GCSE-ready- Home
- Lessons
- GCSE & IGCSE English Literature
- To Kill a Mockingbird: themes and context
To Kill a Mockingbird: themes and context
🎬 The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.
The novel is set in the 1930s but was published in 1960, during the civil rights movement.
Context
The novel is set in 1933 to 1935, during the Great Depression, in the American South.
Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation, and Black people were often denied fair trials.
Published in 1960, as the civil rights movement was challenging segregation. It won the Pulitzer Prize.
Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation, and Black people were often denied fair trials.
Published in 1960, as the civil rights movement was challenging segregation. It won the Pulitzer Prize.
Key themes
Racism and injustice: the trial.
Empathy: Atticus teaches that you must try to see things from another person's point of view.
Courage: facing what is right even when you are likely to lose.
Innocence and growing up: Scout and Jem lose their innocence.
Class: the Finches, the Cunninghams and the Ewells occupy different levels of Maycomb society.
Empathy: Atticus teaches that you must try to see things from another person's point of view.
Courage: facing what is right even when you are likely to lose.
Innocence and growing up: Scout and Jem lose their innocence.
Class: the Finches, the Cunninghams and the Ewells occupy different levels of Maycomb society.
Narrative voice
Adult Scout narrates her childhood, so we get both the child's innocent view and the adult's understanding.
This makes the injustice clearer: a child sees what adults ignore.
This makes the injustice clearer: a child sees what adults ignore.
How does the 1960 publication date affect the novel's meaning?
- The civil rights movement was challenging segregation.
- The 1930s story showed readers where racism leads.
- It encouraged readers to support change.
Answer: It spoke to readers in the civil rights era, using the past to criticise continuing racism.
Set 1933 to 1935 (Great Depression, Jim Crow); published 1960 (civil rights). Themes: racism and injustice, empathy, courage, innocence, class. Retrospective child narrator.
Check you have got it
Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.