To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee may seem like a simple story about childhood and life in a Southern town, but upon closer examination it is a complex novel that deals with themes of education, moral courage and tolerance. Through the eyes of Scout Finch, the young protagonist, writer Harper Lee educates the reader on the importance of a moral education, as opposed to a formal education, on the difference between traditional courage and moral courage, and on prejudice versus tolerance. chapters of the novel, Scout Finch joins her brother Jem at school. School is something the precocious Scout looked forward to participating in. Her first day turns out to be a disappointment when Jem (Scout's main playmate at home) tells Scout that they shouldn't play with each other, and when Scout gets in trouble for tutoring her teacher on a fellow student, Walter Cunningham, who belongs to a family that does not accept charity. Her worst disappointment is when her teacher, Miss Caroline, tells Scout that Atticus taught her the wrong way. Instead of feeling pride in her reading skills, Scout feels ashamed. She tells her father that she will not go back to school, but he compromises with her and tells her that if she goes to school that they will continue to read as they always have. Through their talks on the porch and at night, Atticus teaches Scout more than she will ever learn in school. The most important lesson it teaches her is how to treat people. The moral education that Scout receives from Atticus is juxtaposed by Lee in the novel with formal education, which is mostly depicted as rigid, narrow-minded, and unhelpful. In addition to the topic of moral education, Lee explores the notion of courage vs. moral courage. Scout, Jem, and their friend Dill tend to define courage by the risks people are willing to take. For these children, accepting a challenge is the truest test of their courage. Jem accepts Dill's challenge to touch the door of the Radley house, where the neighborhood bogeyman, Arthur "Boo" Radley, lives. Jem also sees courage based on how skilled one is with a gun. When Atticus shoots the rabid dog, Jem gains a newfound respect for Atticus. Their notion of courage changes during Tom Robinson's trial and at the end of the novel.