In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the small-mindedness of the Maycomb community hiders Maycomb people to truly understand each other. Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, is assigned with negative characteristics without validation by the Maycomb community. As the story unfolds, Scout, the narrator, starts to know more about Boo Radley, Boo transforms from a mysterious and fearful person to the most heroic and sympathetic character in the novel. Scout experiences that hatred and biased will sully her knowledge of human goodness.…
For a majority of the book Scout was told Boo Radley was a crazy, antisocial, outcast, through the rumors spread around Maycomb. Scout did not know anything else about Boo, so she did not think twice about it. One of the stories Scout heard was about how Boo Radley “drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities" (Lee 13). This story contributed to the idea that Boo was crazy. Everybody thought he was heartless and was willing to kill his own parents. Everyone in Maycomb had…
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird’s Scout Finch is an unreliable narrator in that many of the key events she mentions throughout her narration are taken from second hand accounts and other people. One of the main plot points of the novel is the character of Boo Radley. The Finches’ neighbour, Boo, was depicted as an elusive person. He hardly went outside or socialized with others, due to his violent nature. Scout had hardly any real contact with him until the end of the novel. All of the knowledge Scout knew of Boo was either from “…neighbourhood legend” (pg. 10), or Jem, who had “…received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford” (pg. 11-12). By getting her information from different sources and telling it to the reader, Scout…
The game played by Dill, Jem, and Scout throughout the fourth chapter of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird shows that Maycomb is a town run on gossip and ignorance which directly influences the children making it an even bigger problem. For example Jem tells Scout, “‘Besides, I don't’ think he’s still in there. He died a few years ago and they stuffed him up the chimney’” (Lee 51). Even though Jem has never seen or heard from Boo himself, he believes the rumors spread throughout the town and continues to spread the false information unknowingly. All three kids believe everything they hear about Boo Radley, which makes them think it is okay to spread the rumors further and further. This is relevant to everyday life in the sense of all the…
Boo Radley is associated with a mockingbird, showing how he is an innocent, kind-hearted person, despite the rumors about him. Mr. Tate and Scout states that it would be wrong— even a sin, which would tie into when Atticus told Jem and Scout that “it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” (119)— to tell the town of Maycomb that Boo Radley had killed a man (Bob Ewell), when it was only done in defense of Scout and Jem and would cause a lot of trouble for Boo. Boo would then be the center of attention in Maycomb, which is something that he does not want, and the rest of the Ewells may even attack Boo, for killing their father.…
Maycomb county is a small town which means that everyone knows about everyone. In this formal town it is normal for people to create opinions and suspicion about each other. This is exactly what the kids did about Boo radley. Right of the bat dill was curious about the radley place which is where Boo radley lives. Jem and Scout made up a bunch of things about boo radley.…
The mysterious neighbor to them, never seen but always there watching. When they first introduced Boo, they feared him until they became to ridicule what they did not know. Scout and Jems maturation process is facilitated by how they handle and overcome their fear of Boo Radley, the towns “boogey man”. When Miss Maudie’s house flamed up Scout and Jem stood by the Radley fence, throughout the night someone came and covered Scouts back with a blanket; it was Boo Radley. That was the first night that Jem started to realize Boo is as pure as a mockingbird, just misunderstood. In the conversation- “Mr. Tate was right…’what do you mean?… 'Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?'" (Scout, p.276) took place, it showed insight to a deeper level of thinking that the kids had developed- metaphoric understanding. Jem knew they were wrong about Boo when Boo had stitched up his pants leaving them on the fence for Jem to find and when he did, he cried an emotional silent cry of remorse for they had contributed to the ridicule Boo endured. With this new understanding in chapter twenty three Jem enlightens Scout why Boo doesn’t leave his house; he doesn’t want to, it’s a confusing corrupt world he’d rather not live in. In a way Boo had taught Scout how to empathize with people. As she was escorted by him to his porch she stood there with tears filling her eyes for the man who saved their lives. Empathetic as she gazed the yard “in his shoes” watching memories from the past three…
Instead of letting Bob kill the kids, Boo Radley, who hasn’t been seen in public for years, saves the children in a brave, heroic act. The local sheriff, Heck Tate, decides that with Boo’s shyness it would be cruel to let him receive the press that comes with being a local hero, so he makes a false story where Bob Ewell tripped on his knife. Atticus refuses the idea immediately, but Scout agrees, explaining that if they do that to Boo “it’d sort of be like shootin’ a mockingbird” because Boo is shy and any attention would be a punishment. In the story Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are two characters who symbolize…
When searching for a new book to read, people are often drawn to one that has an intriguing cover, not even bothering to learn what the book is actually about. Although the old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” may seem foolish, people often use this tendency. Similar to judging a book by its cover, people commonly judge others based on rumors and reputations. Harper Lee depicts this theme in To Kill a Mockingbird, demonstrating that one must dig beyond the surface to find the truth. Although Miss Stephanie’s outrageous claims about Boo Radley have the potential to sway Jem and Scout, the children boldly choose to look beyond the erratic rumors Miss Stephanie feeds them and instead believe in Atticus’ core philosophy of climbing in another person’s skin and walking around in it. Since doing so enables the children to better understand Boo’s situation and establish an unconventional friendship with him, this one simple decision ultimately results in Boo saving their lives, which most likely would not have happened if Jem and Scout had believed Miss Stephanie’s false gossip. The unknown nature of Arthur “Boo” Radley gives the children a blank canvas of his personality that is painted by the prejudiced views of Miss Stephanie to create a distorted image of him. The neighborhood relationship the children have with Miss Stephanie is based largely on the phony information she tells them. This is conveyed from the moment that the reader is first acquainted with Miss Stephanie. She is introduced as the neighborhood source of gossip on the Radley family. Interestingly, Jem and Scout turned to Miss Stephanie, of all people, in hopes of learning more about their mysterious neighbor. This shows that Miss Stephanie is infamous for sticking her nose into other people’s business, which is not something to be proud of. At the same time, her fabricated stories give the children a false image of Boo. Being young and gullible, Jem and Scout…
Scout learns that certain people in town are feared, distrusted or hated because of their skin color, personal decisions, or rank on the social hierarchy, also known as class warfare. Colored people don’t receive as much respect as white people because they are lower in the social hierarchy than the white people who are on the top. By stepping into the shoes of Boo Radley, Walter Cunningham, and Dolphus Raymond, Scout learns a lot about class warfare. Tom Robinson is a black man who is falsely accused of beating and raping Mayella Ewell. The jury finds him guilty, and Scout knows that it was wrong. Her father, Atticus, was Tom’s lawyer, so she was able to experience each step of the trial. Arthur “Boo” Radley was feared by all of Maycomb because he stabbed his father with a pair of scissors when he was younger. Scout constantly wonders what it would feel like to be trapped in your house for so many years and be all alone to understand why Boo does not have great social skills and is quite shy. He left many things for the children in the hole of a tree, but expected nothing in return. Scout and Jem both recognized that he was not a bad man, and just needed some friends. Dolphus Raymond was the town dunk. Actually, he wasn’t. He drank Coca-Cola out of a paper bag to make everyone think that he was drunk. Dill and Scout got the opportunity to talk to him during the trail, when they decided to take a…
Scout finally starts third grade, where she has become much wiser. She and Jem stop bothering the Radley residence as they empathize them, understanding what a nuisance it is to have children constantly trying to get Boo to come out, “I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse, when passing by the old place, at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley—what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters, delivering greetings on the end of a fishing-pole, wandering in his collards at night” (324). Scout finally understands from Boo’s perspective that it is bothersome to have children trying to get him come out even though he does not want to and has done nothing to them. She realizes that if she was in Boo’s shoes, she would not want to have children constantly bothering her. After Boo saves Scout and Jem, Scout walks him back to his house. Standing on the Radley porch, Scout imagines the events of the novel from Boo Radley’s perspective. He watches through the windows and can see everything, looking over his “children”, Scout and Jem. Scout refers to her and Jem as Boo Radley’s children because the entire time, Boo has been watching over them as if they were his own children, only coming out of his…
Throughout Maycomb, Boo is known as a “monster” for stabbing his father with scissors many years ago while he was cutting paper for his scrap book one. Although no one really knows any information about the incident, they have misjudged Boo before they have met him. While Dill, a close friend was visiting Jem and Scout for the summer, the three children play many acting games about the life of Arthur Radley, and “as summer progressed, so did [their] game” (39). The game itself is a representation of prejudice because they are misjudging an innocent man. The kids believed that “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall,” they assumed such by the tracks he left. They also imagined that “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch,” concluding that that is “why his hands were bloodstained…” They also seemed to believe that “there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (13). Although they have not met Boo Radley, they prejudged him by hearing false rumors from their…
The theme of to kill a mockingbird is the destruction of innocence through the conflict of good and evil. Many people including Jem, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley loss their innocence in the events of this book.…
The Radley house has always been a mystery to the children of Maycomb County, the town where Scout lives. According to Jem, Boo Radley six and a half feet tall, ate squirrels and cats, and had a long scar across his face. One summer, Dill, a friend of the children, dared Jem to touch the Radley house. Dill told Jem, “…the folks in Meridian certainly weren’t as afraid as the folks in Maycomb…” (Lee 13). This was enough to persuade Jem into touching the house. After this amazing feat, Scout…
Scout and Jem learn about the power of being prejudice. Boo Radley has always been the scary-like human that everyone is scared of, for they judge him since Boo is different from everyone else. According to the people of Maycomb, Boo Radley “went out at night...and peeped in windows.” The people of Maycomb criticize Boo for not being like everyone else, for every time a crime is committed, it is blamed on Boo Radley. The townspeople believe Boo Radley is an evil guy; therefore, the legends of Boo Radley get passed down to the children, which teaches the children to become prejudice at a young age. Scout soon realizes all the rumors about Boo Radley are all lies; therefore, Scout discerns Boo Radley’s name isn’t Boo, it’s Author Radley, and he is a good guy that saved Jem and Scout lives. No one will ever know Author Radley saved Jem and Scouts’ lives because the people of Maycomb will not only begin rumors about Author Radley, but also begin to go to his house when he wants to be away from…