To kill a mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a story about innocence, prejudice and courage. It was written by Harper Lee and published in 1960. It was immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The story follows the childhood of Scout Finch who lives with her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus, in Maycomb, an old and boring Alabama town. One summer, Jem and Scout befriend a boy named Dill, who spends his summers at Maycomb. Eventually, Dill becomes fascinated with the spooky and mysterious house on their street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, whose brother, Boo Radley, has lived there for years without venturing outside. Meanwhile, Atticus, who’s a prominent lawyer in the sleepy town, is defending a black man, Tom, who’s being falsely accused of raping a white girl. This essay will focus on Boo Radley’s essential role in the story since the prejudice against him is a reflection of the prejudice in society.
Everyone saw Boo as a monster based on rumors, and stuff made-up by the town-folks such as Miss Stephanie Crawford. “Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time… It’s because he wants to stay inside.” Jem tells this to Scout, at some time in the novel and it’s a very important moment. It’s when we realize that Jem’s starting to understand what’s going on with Boo Radley, who’s nothing but a caregiver and a victim. He didn’t deserve the punishment he was receiving. You could even say he was too good for some of them. He tried his hardest to reach the children by doing good things to them indirectly. He even saved them from Bob Ewel. This is why Boo’s one of the mockingbirds in this story. “To tell about this would be like killing a mockingbird” Scouts says at some point in the book, when she’s relating Boo to a mockingbird because he has done no harm to