To Kill A Mockingbird- Final Assignment The Radley’s are a misunderstood family, who live in a creepy house blocked away from society, affected by many “urban legends.” They keep to themselves, away from anyone who could intrude in their lives. They are not ones that you would see often, only Mr. Nathan Radley, who just runs his errands in the mornings. The Radley’s are so mysterious because no one knows who they truly are, so everyone just makes up who they want the Radley’s to be. Arthur Radley, who is most commonly known as Boo Radley, has many stories. People believe that he stabbed his father, Nathan, with a pair of scissors, bit off his mother's finger one night when he couldn't find any cats or squirrels to eat, oh and yes, they also believe he eats cats and squirrels. Without ever seeing Boo, people don’t even know if he is alive or not, giving them more of a chance to spread rumors. Like any other six, seven and ten year old child, Scout, Dill and Jem are fascinated with trying to uncover the mystery of The Radley’s. They are obsessed with The Radleyś, from making up games about their lives, to …show more content…
Scout shows not only a great amount of compassion towards Arthur Radley but also love. Scout realizes that Arthur is lonely and abused by people words, she realizes that the way he is treated is not fair to him. So, she she does anything she can to show that she knows he is not a bad guy, by sending him letters to come outside, to thinking endlessly about how she can show that someone cares about him. “I took his him by the hand… and he allowed me to lead him to Jem’s bed.” (Lee, 372) When Scout finally meets Arthur, she treats him like she would anyone else; which is more than anyone else would. Making Arthur feel more comfortable where he is, and even walking him home to show that she cares about him, making sure he knows that he is
Boo Radley, also known as Arthur Radley, is the scary, evil creature that lives in the creepy old house down the street from Jem and Scout, and is misjudged at first. Jem and Scout, two main characters, first see Boo as some sort of scary monster. Jem described him in the first chapter as “...six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks...” and said “...he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained- if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off...” Jem also mentioned Boo had 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.” Scout and Jem also call Boo a “...malevolent phantom...” As if that isn't bad enough, the kids hear and tell horrible stories about Boo. One is of how he stabbed his dad with a pair of scissors; another tells how he was locked up in the courthouse basement. Even with such a grisly initial perception at the beginning of...
A Major Role in The Novel "To Kill a Mockingbird": Boo Radley A person that was stuck behind bars for most of his life escapes and saves the lives of two innocent children. Boo Radley, whose real name is Mr. Arthur, is like a prisoner in his own home because he is afraid to face the real world. Boo Radley plays a major role in the novel "To Kill A Mockingbird" because he acts like a second father to the children. He does this by creating a strong bond with the children, he saves Jem and Scout's lives and he is like a mockingbird to the children. Boo Radley shows us how a complete stranger can become your best friend in a single moment.
Through the development of Scout’s relationship with Arthur Radley, Scout develops and becomes more empathetic. Atticus Finch, Scout’s father, is her most consistent role model and used by Lee as the moral compass. Atticus is a firm believer in teaching by example, and his respect of his children is such that he treats them almost as adults, emphasised in the line ‘he played with us, read with us, and treated us with courteous detachment’ pg. 6. This refusal to shelter Scout from the harsh realities of life in Maycomb allows her to learn from experience. The strong moral guidance offered by Atticus allows Scout not only to learn from experience, but also to develop her personal integrity. Atticus exemplifies his strong beliefs, as illustrated when he says ‘Shoot
Scout Finch and her brother Jem live with their widowed father Atticus in the town of Maycomb, Alabama. The book takes place in a society withstanding effects of the Great Depression. The two main characters, Scout and Jem, approach life with a childlike view engulfed in innocence. They befriend a young boy named Dill, and they all become intrigued with the spooky house they refer to as “The Radley Place”. The owner, Nathan Radley (referred to as Boo), has lived there for years without ever venturing outside its walls. The children laugh and imagine the reclusive life of Boo Radley, yet their father quickly puts a halt to their shenanigans, as they should not judge the man before they truly know him. Atticus unforgettably tells the children, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view…until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
The narrator of the story, Scout Finch, is a curious young girl who is surprisingly mature for her age. When her older brother Jem, and shared friend Dill go to the intriguing Radley house to deliver a note to Boo Radley, whom Macomb County hasn’t seen in 15 years, Scout is
Among the many plots within the story, many of them surround Boo Radley or attempting to have Boo Radley come out of his house. In these stories show Jem, Scout, and Dill are terrified of the Radley house and what be inside. However, they are mistaken, for Boo Radley wants to do the exact opposite of scaring the children. For example, Boo tries to show friendship to Scout and Jem by leaving them gifts in the tree outside of his house. These gifts include dolls, gum, a knife, a watch, etc. Boo also is thought to have wrapped Scout in a blanket during the chapter in which Miss Maudie’s house had burned down. Boo Radley is thought to have done it because Atticus says “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Lee 96) supporting the fact that Boo Radley was looking out for Scout. Lastly, Boo Radley saved Scout and Jem when they were attacked by Bob Ewell. This heroic effort was not only full of care, but also, full of
Scout first learns to show compassion and tolerance by refusing to go to school because she hates Miss Caroline. Atticus tells her that, 'First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it'; (30). When Atticus told her this, she began to accept Miss Caroline as well as other people's differences and opinions.
Another very crucial point to the overall story is the mutual fascination between the children and Boo Radley (Arthur Radley). Boo constantly leaves objects (a watch, two soap dolls, a knife…etc) in the hollow of a tree on his property. Just as Boo does this, the children are constantly devising plans to look in the windows of the Radley house, to sneak into the back yard…etc. This was largely important to the story because it built upon the viewer’s opinion of the children, leading us to believe them having large capacity for imagination from their stories on Boo eating only squirrels and any cats he can get his hands on, and having them believe the stories as well! And all of these instances, the children’s stories, the fact that Boo never comes out of his house in sight of others, the stories of others concerning the Radley’s, the gifts in the tree hollow, lead us to believe Boo to be some sort of...
Boo Radley is the next door neighbor of the Finch’s. He is an outsider of the community, because he does not leave the house. He got in some trouble as a teenager, so his father locked him up inside the house. After his father died, his brother moved in with him. While Boo was locked up inside is house, the people of Maycomb County made up stories about him. The legend of Boo Radley was well-known to the people of Maycomb. Jem describes Boo, “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. 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.” (Lee ). Boo is an innocent character because all he does stay inside his own house, and does not bother anybody. Yet the entire town believes that he could be a murderer. Harper Lee is showing that if you do not fit into southern society, they will make you into an outsider and a bad legend. Another example of Boo Radley being an innocent character is when he gives a blanket to Scout. Miss Maudie Atkinson, one of the Finch’s neighbors, had a house fire. Atticus (Scout and Jem’s father) woke up the kids and made them go outside, in case the fire spread to their house. While Scout was not looking someone gave her a blanket, “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.’”(Lee ). Boo Radley is an innocent character because he helped warm up Scout in the cold, yet Scout was still scared that Boo had been near here. Harper Lee is showing us that Boo could do a nice thing, and yet Scout would still be scared because of his reputation. Finally, another
Boo is a secluded and shy man who never leaves his house. There are only rumors of Boo creeping out when it’s pitch dark outside. Besides those rumors, he is always kept locked up inside his house with “the shutters and doors closed” (9). It is not until one day, when Jem and Scout are walking along the road coming home from a Halloween event at school that Boo Radley comes out from his house. The children are walking silently home when they suddenly heard the shuffling of someone’s shoes. Not before long, Bob Ewell runs straight towards the children, knife in hand. While the children are being tackled, there is a “crunching” (262) sound of Jem’s arm, and he is left on the cold and damp ground. Scout is so entangled that it is hard for her to see. What she does manage to see is a man carrying Jem home. This man is Boo Radley. When Bob Ewell is fighting the children, Boo has to make a decision on whether or not he wants to reveal himself. In the end, Boo ends up fighting off Bob Ewell and saving the childrens’ lives. Even though Boo is always locked away from the rest of society and doesn’t want to be seen, he gets over his fear and fights for the children’s safety. He truly shows courage because he stands by what is right and leaves his house to save Atticus’s
In the beginning of the novel, many falsehoods by the townspeople portray Boo Radley as a villain. These misleading opinions, very apparent in the adult community, are well illustrated by Miss Stephanie Crawford. She helps skew the children's impressions. Since Atticus, although often interrogated, does not want to create a breach of etiquette, he refuses to speak about the Radleys. Therefore, Jem receives most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold, who insists she knows the whole truth about the Radleys. It is from Crawford that the children learn of Radley's scissor attack on his father and other such interesting rumors. Thus, Arthur Radley is labeled as a "hant", a possibly insane and dangerous man, and the "malevolent phantom” (Lee, pg. #). The latter comes from the fact that Radley had not been seen for many years, and was beli...
In the beginning of the story Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill obsess over their mysterious neighbor Arthur (Boo) Radley. Boo Radley had never been seen outside his house after being taken there following the completion of his detainment for stabbing his father in the leg with scissors. The children decide “to make him come out” (16). Through the children’s descriptions of Boo as a “malevolent phantom” Harper Lee is able to create a tone which disguises the true nature of Boo Radley b...
As a young boy prohibited from having any fun, Boo’s loneliness grows like a weed, as does his desire to experience the world. Lost in a house closed off from the community, Boo rebels against his family and faith by getting in with the wrong crowd. After being the only delinquent boy rejected from attending industrial school, Boo returns to the house and life he so desperately loathes, his own personal hell. Furthermore, Mr. Radley’s religion and worship towards the Bible ignites the fire of neglect that burns Arthur throughout his childhood. His matter-of-fact take on God and religion places Mr. Radley into the category of men that are “so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one” (Lee, 60). Strictly living to the literal interpretation of the Bible, Mr. Radley fails to provide his family with the means to live joyful, meaningful lives. The disconnection and instability of his family proves that Mr. Radley spent so much time trying to please God and follow the strict rules of his religion that he forgot how to please his own family. Recalling the facts, as foot-washing Baptists, The Radleys abide by a set of rules that isolate them from the community and
Both the Radleys, specifically Arthur “Boo” Radley, and Tom Robinson have a lot of prejudice surrounding them. Though the type of prejudice towards them is different, they are connected through the shared experience of being looked down upon. The Radley family is feared because they don’t fit into the norm of the society. Unlike many of the residents, they choose to keep to themselves. After a weird story involving a “gang,” Arthur Radley has mostly stayed in inside his house and is rumored to go outside during the night and terrorize the community. Another rumor surrounding Arthur involves him cutting items from a newspaper to put into a scrapbook and as his father walked by, “Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out,
The Radley family does not participate in the usual social activities, although Boo is a very religious guy. To include, something weird began happening to Scout and Jem as you can see in the picture below. Scout and Jem believe that he may be the person leaving forms of tokens for them to find in the tree. They find a spelling metal, two Indian-head pennies, bars of soap that resemble Scout and Jem, a watch, gum, and a few other things. When Miss Maudie's house caught on fire, Scout was outside in the cold watching this event. Boo came up randomly behind Maudie, covers her with a blanket without Scout even noticing. That was until she came home with a blanket around her shoulders that he had questioned how she'd gotten it.