Boo Radley Character Analysis

Ashna Sinha
How does Boo Radley develop/ move the plot forward?
Some people like to believe that they have a guardian angel watching over them. Like their angel will help move their life forward, and protect them from any harm. In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Jem and Scout Finch, the two main characters of the book, witness the events of a prejudiced trial unfold in front of them. They did not realize when the once intimidating, mysterious man next door became their guardian angel. Unseen by Maycomb County, Arthur (Boo) Radley was considered a monster. Most people living in Maycomb – adults and children alike – were intimidated by the Radley place, which was always dark, mysterious, and haunting. Boo Radley is not what society thinks

During the fire that burned Miss Maudie’s house down, Boo Radley was most probably watching from his window. Seeing that Scout so young and in the cold, he decided to help her out. “‘– 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 did not know when he put the blanket around you.’” (81). Boo Radley did not want Scout to catch a cold, or be sick in any way, shape, or form. He knew that putting a blanket around her would do the trick, and without being blinded by the fact that his act of going outside could possibly get him attention, something that he does not want. This act would have been heroic if done by anyone, whether they were secretive or not. But the fact that Boo Radley set aside his wants/beliefs just to cover one cold girl is a undervalued, valiant thing for him to do. Not everyone is this caring for the Finch children, especially after the trial. The trial defaced Bob Ewell, and put him in a worse place that he was in before. Maycomb, although they do not declare or stand up for it, knows that Bob Ewell was in the wrong this time. They become slightly passive aggressive and made his life just a little bit more difficult. He takes his anger on the world, the trial and Attics, out on Jem and Scout. He plots a murder, to kill Atticus’ children. He does this not knowing that they have an angel watching them, an angel that will do anything to protect. This angel flipped the murder scene around. Instead of Bob Ewell being the murderer, he became the one getting murdered. Boo Radley (the angel) murdered Bob Ewell with a kitchen knife in order to keep Jem and Scout safe. “Before he went inside the house, he stopped in front of Boo Radley. ‘Thank you for my children Arthur.’” This was said by Atticus to Boo, after the scene was settled. This shows that Atticus does not care what society has to say