In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee addresses many controversial issues. Topics such as racism, discrimination and social class are explored. During the 1950s in small Maycomb County, the mentality of most of the Southern population reflected that of the nation. Most people were racist and discriminatory. In the novel, these ideas are explored by a young girl, Scout. Readers see the events that happen through his eyes. In the book, Scout's father, Atticus, tells Scout and Jem, "I'd rather you shoot the tin cans in the yard, but I know you'll chase birds. Shoot all the jays you want, if you can hit 'em." , but remember that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird." (p. 69) The mockingbird is a symbol for two of the characters in the novel: Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. The mockingbird symbolizes these two characters because it has no song of its own While the blue jay is loud and obnoxious, the mockingbird only sings the songs of other birds. Since the mockingbird does not sing its own song, we characterize it only by what other birds sing through the other birds. In the novel, the people of Maycomb know Boo Radley and Tom Robinson only by what others say about them. Both of these characters do not have their own "song" in a sense, and therefore are characterized by the points of view of other people. Throughout the novel, Scout, Jem and Dill are curious about the "mysterious" Boo Radley because he never leaves his house or associates with anyone in the neighborhood of all the stories they hear about him from the people of Maycomb. For example, Miss Stephanie tells the children that while Boo was sitting in the living room cutting out a magazine, "he stuck the scissors in his parents' leg, took them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities." (p. 11) After hearing stories like these, children see him as evil. Gradually they begin to take it for granted that Boo never plays outside or with anyone, and so the children are not convinced otherwise. Boo Radley becomes a game for children; during the summers they enact "Boo Radley scenarios" that they believed to be true. Over time they create new parts to the story: they even include Mrs. Radley in the story and portray her as a poor woman, who after marrying Mr. Radley, "lost her teeth, her hair, and her right index finger." 39) These stories are based on the gossip circulating through them