Research Paper on:
To Kill a Mockingbird Content Analysis

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rather than by prejudice, whether it be social or racial. As Harper Lees moving Pulitzer prize-winning novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, examines, a person who stands up for what  he or she believes in is often in the minority, but must be willing to stand alone in order to successfully do so. The residents of this small, quintessential  Southern town, particularly those of public defender Atticus Finch and his children Jean Louise (known as "Scout") and Jeremy (known as "Jem"). As the tale powerfully demonstrates, there is  more than one way to examine an issue, and while majority opinion can exert a strong influence, one must take the time to see it from the other persons perspective  in order to do what is right. The first part of the novel concentrates on life in Maycomb, as the Finch youngsters come of age under the firm but loving  guidance of their middle-aged widowed father and their doting African-American cook, Calpurnia. The youngsters curiosity is sparked by their eccentric and reclusive neighbor, Arthur "Boo" Radley, who appears to  the children to be more ghost-like than human. Whenever anything went wrong in the community, all fingers pointed to Boo, so he was kept as a virtual prisoner of  his house by his brother. Nathan, and out of public view as much as possible. For the children, he became an oddity, an object of profound curiosity. Despite  Atticuss insistence that the children mind their own business and "let the Radleys mind theirs, as they had a right to" (Lee 15), this did not deter the youngsters from  indulging in speculation. Scout and Jem believed the local stories that Boo was the devil incarnate, which perversely sparked their desire to know more about this seemingly frightening man