In To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee describes a Maycomb as a tired old town (6). This is a parallel to Harper Lee’s old town, Monroeville, as it was purchased in the 1700s. Sarah Lawless writes on encyclopydiaofalabama.org,“By 1795, Secretary of State James Monroe negotiated the purchase of this area from Spain”(Lawless). Monroeville is also described by bard.org as, “a sleepy backwater town”. Lee used a characteristic of her home town and put it on Maycomb. Lee also mimicked the layout of the town. “... the courthouse sagged in the square…”(Lee 6). Lee tells the reader that the courthouse was in the townsquare. Monroeville courthouse was also located in the town square, “... Old Monroe County Courthouse in Monroeville townsquare”(Lawless). Monroeville has a similar age and layout to Maycomb. Because Monroeville was so similar to Maycomb, Harper Lee used her childhood setting and used it in the …show more content…
Lee creates a trial between white teenager Mayella Ewell and how she is accusing a black man, Tom Robinson of rape. Besides the Ewells saying Tom raped her, there was more proof that he didn’t do it. Due to the unjust jury, Tom Robinson was found guilty. The trial takes place in the 1930’s, in the center of Maycomb and with everyone from the town coming to see (Lee 222-283). The Ewells versus Robinson trial is a parallel to another trial happening at a similar time, The Trial of the “Scottboro Boys”. On law2.umkc.edu, writer Douglas Linder says that the case was between nine black boys and two white girls. The case took place in 1931 with the whole town surrounding the court. While there was more evidence that the boys did not commit the crime, the word of the white girls was above the evidence, and the boys were found guilty(Linder). The contents of the trial is the biggest similarity. Both of them have a white girl(s) accusing a black man of rape. They are also both have the same outcome do to the similar unjust jury. They are also both very popular throughout the town and news. This was in Lee’s personal life is because this would have been something she heard about while growing up, because her father is a lawyer, and he treat his children like adults, he would have told Harper Lee about this case. Harper Lee’s life affected the plot of the