A Song - Strange Fruit

Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

This Song is composed by Billie Holiday, a black singer who was popular with both White people and Black people.

The song makes obvious references to Lynching - The fruit appears only in the South (Which was against the freedom of Negroes), it also has a few lines which refer to the Lynched Person - "The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth as well as Then the sudden smell of burning flesh"

The song is more poignant, as it only implies the Lynching, but it does not explicitly state it is a lynching. This increases the effectiveness of the Song as the listener automatically makes their own inference about the lyrics, so that the message is stronger. However, I also find the lyrics very poignant as it highlights the irony of "gallant south" since the message is conflicting - Gallant yet they bully and oppress others.

Comparison between Mississippi Burning and To KIll a Mocking Bird

Both TKaM and Mississippi Burning are set in the South during the same period - ie, after the American Civil War. Although specifically, Mississippi Burning is during the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi, and is loosely based of the true murders of three Civil Right Activists. TKaM could also be said to be loosely based off the Scottsboro Boys.

Mississippi Burning focuses more on the KKK and how they segregated and attacked Black People, specifically burning "black" churches as well as intimidating any blacks and preventing them from talking to the FBI about the missing Civil Right activists. The main examples cited in the movie are lynchings, burning of homes and houses, and beating informants. The other main method of intimidation was to place a burning cross near the house of whoever they wanted to intimidate as a warning.

TKaM however was more focused on general segregation of Negroes and also (to some extent) Human nature. This is emphasized when certain characters rejected the segregation of the Jews, but still supported segregating the Blacks. However, the book focused less on violent scenes, and focused more on day to day events in Maycomb.

However, this can be explained through the fact that Movies in general are more fast paced than books, so the movie would not focus on day to day events as the movie would be more boring. Furthermore, as Maycomb was described as an old and sleepy town, the likelihood of a Lynch Mob/Lynching occuring would very slim, despite the fact that a Lynching almost happened when Atticus was approached at the Jail.

However, in General, both Mississippi Burning and TKaM are focused on the same theme.