To Kill a Mockingbird
A Pulitzer-winning novel addressing racial injustice and loss of innocence.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a 1960 Southern Gothic novel by American author Harper Lee. It became instantly successful after its release and won the Pulitzer Prize a year later, becoming a classic of modern American literature. The novel is widely read in high schools and middle schools in the United States and is renowned for its warmth and humor despite dealing with serious issues of rape and racial inequality.
- published
- July 11, 1960
- author
- Harper Lee
- genre
- Southern Gothic novel, Bildungsroman
- nationality
- American
Lore & Background
Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, and became a close friend of writer Truman Capote. She attended Huntingdon College and studied law at the University of Alabama, writing for campus literary magazines about racial injustice. Friends gave her a year's wages as a Christmas gift to allow her to write full-time, and an editor at J. B. Lippincott Company helped shape the manuscript. The manuscript, initially titled 'Go Set a Watchman,' was reworked over two and a half years under editor Tay Hohoff before being published as To Kill a Mockingbird on July 11, 1960.
Reader's Guide
To Kill a Mockingbird has had a profound impact on American culture and education. The historian Joseph Crespino called it 'probably the most widely read book dealing with race in America,' with Atticus Finch serving as 'the most enduring fictional image of racial heroism.' The novel's primary themes involve racial injustice and the loss of innocence, and it also addresses class, courage, compassion, and gender roles in the Deep South. Despite its popularity, literary analysis of the novel is sparse, and it has been subject to campaigns for removal from public classrooms due to its use of racial epithets.
Did You Know?
- The novel was originally titled 'Go Set a Watchman' before Lee renamed it.
- Reader's Digest Condensed Books published a condensed version in 1961, by which time the book's wide readership was already established.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is To Kill a Mockingbird?
It is a 1960 novel by Harper Lee that follows young Scout Finch as she witnesses racial injustice in a small Alabama town. The book balances warmth and humor with serious themes of inequality and the loss of childhood innocence.
Who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird and when was it published?
American author Harper Lee wrote the novel, and it was released on July 11, 1960. It became an immediate bestseller and is now a staple reading in American middle and high schools.
What genre is To Kill a Mockingbird?
The novel is classified as Southern Gothic and also functions as a Bildungsroman, tracing the moral growth of its young narrator. It is set in the American South during the 1930s.
Why is To Kill a Mockingbird considered important?
It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and is regarded as a cornerstone of modern American literature. Its candid treatment of racial injustice, combined with an accessible and warm narrative voice, has kept it in school curricula for decades.
What does the title 'To Kill a Mockingbird' mean?
The phrase, spoken by Atticus Finch, conveys the idea that harming an innocent, defenseless being is a grave moral wrong. It serves as the novel's central metaphor for the injustice endured by its Black characters.
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