Nelle Harper Lee is a well-known author, who gained fame through her book, To Kill a Mockingbird. This book was so well written that it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. To Kill a Mockingbird is admired by many people, so it is reasonable to think that the book was inspired by life experiences. To make a book filled with such strong emotions, Harper Lee must have experienced some of those emotions herself. Harper Lee's early life must have inspired her to write To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee grew up in Monroeville, Alabama, much like Maycomb, Alabama, which is the setting of her book. Scout and Harper Lee lived in southern Alabama, so Harper Lee knew firsthand what life was like in a town like Maycomb. As a child, Harper Lee is known to have looked a lot like Scout. Both were rambunctious and tomboyish, so Harper Lee found inspiration for Scout in her younger self. Harper Lee also fought with classmates at school and talked back to teachers, and it is clear that Scout embodies a young Harper Lee. Since Scout looks a lot like Harper Lee, their childhood was also similar. While Harper Lee was growing up, a case called the Scottsboro Trials took place. This trial centered on two white women accusing 9 black men of rape. Harper Lee was young and very impressionable at the time, so it's clear that the Scottsboro Trials were the inspiration behind Tom Robinson's Trial. In the Tom Robinson trial, Tom Robinson, a black man, was accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a white woman. Both of these trials took place in the 1930s and in both the charge is the same: rape. The races of each party were the same, the plaintiff was white and the defendant was black. In Scottsboro... middle of paper... in the summer. Whenever Capote returned to Monroeville, the children who lived there continually teased him about not being very strong and wearing fancy clothes. Harper Lee would always defend him, similar to how Scout would defend Dill if anyone made fun of him. Harper Lee and Capote both developed a love of reading and writing and both published books. In one of Capote's books, Other Voices, Other Rooms, the character Idabel was clearly influenced by Harper Lee, and in turn, Dill Harris was clearly influenced by Capote. Dill Harris was good friends with Scout and always came to Maycomb in the summer. Scout and Dill wrote original plays with interesting plots and performed them with Jem. The fact that Scout and Dill wrote plays together may be a reference to Harper Lee and Capote's careers in literature..