To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It became immediately successful as Lee used many of her own experiences as a child throughout the book. Also, the novel is renowned for its warmth and humour, despite dealing with many political issues such as prejudice and racial injustice. To Kill a Mocking Bird also shows other serious issues like rape and racial inequality that were a big problem at this time.
The story is narrated by a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, who is almost always called by her nickname, Scout. She lives with her older brother, Jem and her father Atticus. A successful lawyer, Atticus makes a solid living in Maycomb, a tired, poor, old town which is in the Great Depression. One summer when Scout was six and Jem was ten, they met Dill, a little boy who spent the summer with his aunt who lived next door to the Finches. Between them, they become obsessed with making their spooky neighbour Boo Radley come out of his house. They go through plan after plan, but nothing gets him to come out. However the mysterious Boo Radley does show some affection to the children as when one night, Jem sneaked into the garden to attempt to finally see Boo Radley. Boo's brother, Nathan Radley, who lives in the house, thinks he hears a prowler and fires his gun. Jem, Scout and Dill run away from the Radley place, but Jem manages to catch his trousers on the fence. Later on, Jem returned to get his pants and found them sewn and folded neatly on the fence. But their father soon discovers what they have been up to and tells them to leave the poor Boo Radley in peace.
Not quite midway through the story, Scout and Jem discover that their father is going to represent a black man named Tom Robinson, who is accused of raping and beating a white woman- Mayella Ewell. This caused much speculation in Maycomb and suddenly Scout and Jem have to try and ignore many racial slurs and insults because of Atticus' role in