Childhood is a continuous time of learning, noticing mistakes and using them to change your perspectives. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates how two children learn from people and their actions to respect everyone, regardless of their outward appearance. To Kill A Mockingbird tells the story of two young children named Scout and her older brother Jem Finch who grew up in their racist small town of Maycomb, Alabama. Over the years, they learn how their town and many of its residents are not as perfect as they once seemed. When Jem and Scout's father Atticus defends a black man in court, the town's imperfections begin to show. A bitter little man named Bob Ewell even tries to kill Jem and Scout because of Atticus' help to the black man named Tom Robinson. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee illustrates the central theme that it is wrong to judge someone by their outward appearance, or to put someone down because they are different. In this book, Harper Lee clearly demonstrates the importance of not judging a book by its cover. in the person of Boo Radley. Boo was a boy who had never been seen outside his house since he was caught by the authorities doing mischief. Rumors swirled that he was locked in his house and chained to his bed by his overly religious family. Since people never really knew what Boo looked like, Jem came up with his own theory. “Boo was six and a half feet tall judging by his tracks; he ate raw squirrels and every cat he could catch, which is why his hands were stained with blood – if you ate a raw animal, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long, irregular scar running across his face…” (13). Even though no one really knew Boo, he was blamed for everything that was wrong in the town. As the story progresses, Boo begins to secretly become involved in Jem and Scout's lives. He does things like putting a blanket over Scout's shoulders during a fire at Miss Maudie's house. “You were so busy looking at the fire; you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you.