Sunday 25 January 2015

What was the exact date of the snowfall in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, while we are never told the exact date that snow fell in Maycomb, we can deduce the approximate day.One thing we know is that Tom Robinson was arrested on November 21st in the 1930s. We know the date of his arrest based on the testimonies during the court case. For example, Sheriff Tate is the first to confirm that the incident with Mayella...

In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, while we are never told the exact date that snow fell in Maycomb, we can deduce the approximate day.

One thing we know is that Tom Robinson was arrested on November 21st in the 1930s. We know the date of his arrest based on the testimonies during the court case. For example, Sheriff Tate is the first to confirm that the incident with Mayella Ewell happened on "November twenty-first" (Ch. 17). We also know that the snow fell before Christmas since Christmas is described in Chapter 9 whereas the snowfall is described in Chapter 8. We also know that it is starting to get very, very cold; Maycomb is having the coldest winter it has had since 1885. Scout describes that, at the beginning of winter, they had "two weeks of the coldest weather since 1885" (Ch. 8). We also know that three weeks passed between the snowfall and Christmas time. We know the length of time passed based on Scout's statement that she remained on her best behavior, refraining from getting into a fight with Cecil Jacobs, for three weeks until Christmas time:



I felt extremely noble for having remembered, and remained noble for three weeks. Then Christmas came and disaster struck. (Ch. 9)



Three weeks prior to Christmas Day is December 4th. December 4th is also two weeks just after November 21st. Therefore, we can deduce that the weather turned cold after Robinson's arrest, between November 21st and December 4th. Hence, we can also deduce that the snow fell on December 4th of the 1930s.

It should also be noted that we know the book is set in the 1930s because we know the citizens of Maycomb are going through the Great Depression.

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