A Brief Consideration of Some Issues Raised in Harper Lees To Kill a Mockingbird
This 9-page undergraduate paper answers three questions about Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird: “Analyze Atticus’ relationship with his children. Would you consider him a good father? Explain and cite examples”; “Examine the character of Boo Radley in both a practical and symbolic sense. What role does he play in the development of plot? What does he signify beyond his role in the novel?” and “Does Scout gain insight and mature during the courses of the novel? Explain why or why not”. Using the novel itself, this essay concludes that Atticus is in many ways a good father, although his contradictions and oversights threaten his children. This paper also argues that Boo acts as a catalyst for the plot, as a foil and doppelgänger for Scout, and as a symbol of the good and the bad in Maycomb society. Finally, this paper argues that Scout does develop in the course of the novel, which is evident from her increasing awareness of the inequity around her and from her mature and critical reaction to that inequity.
