In her novel `To Kill a Mockingbird' (Nelle) Harper Lee uses her vast knowledge of justice and the southern culture of the 1930's to explore its racism. She grew up in the midst of the Scottsboro trials, one of largest and most horrendous legal and racial upheavals in the United States history. In her novel she uses parallels that show similarities between the nine Scottsboro trials and the case of Tom Robinson. The novel's purpose is not to retell the events of the Scottsboro trials but to show the effectiveness of all types of discrimination and the toll that it takes on society. She uses the characters of six-year-old Scout Finch, recluse Arthur "Boo" Radley, and Negro man Tom Robinson to illustrate the effects of discrimination on society.

Lee attempts to show how racial discrimination was not only against the Negroes but also against the people who helped...