Connecting my novel of choice with someone else’s through the Literature Resource Center

I chose to search for helpful things relating to To Kill A Mockingbird, because it deals with similar racial issues like Song of Solomon does. One takes place in the south, and the other in the north, but they still explore key issues about racism in the mid twentieth century.

I decided to explore using the Literature Resource Center, an on-line source for biographical historical information about novels and authors.

Rather than searching for both Harper Lee and Toni Morrison in the same search, I chose to just search for entries about Harper Lee. I found one article in particular that brought up a historical moment that plays a big part in Song of Solomon as well: the murder of teenager Emmett Till.

Prolepsis and Anachronism: Emmett Till and the Historicity of To Kill a Mockingbird
Author(s):
Patrick Chura
Source:
The Southern Literary Journal. 32.2 (Spring 2000): p1. From Literature Resource Center.

I learned a lot from the article about the historical context for both novels. It gave me a better idea of the impact of racism nation-wide, not just in the south. The murder of Emmett Till is discussed in a significant part of Song of Solomon, and this article discusses how it is greatly reflected in To Kill a Mockingbird. It helped me connect the two texts.

Although To Kill a Mockingbird takes place in the 1930s, there are elements of history that can be seen being reflected in the plot of To Kill a Mockingbird. One event is the 1953 murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi. The article shows the similarities in the case and the trial of Tom Robinson in the novel. It gives a historical background to race in the south, and how these events influenced Harper Lee in her writing of To Kill a Mockingbird.