Boo Radley Trial

I read chapters one, two, and three from How to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Scout Finch narrated events throughout her life, including, the mysterious Arthur “Boo” Radley, and recalling Dill.

Reading the first few chapters, a consistent topic is Boo Radley. Through further evaluation, a prediction was formed; the kids will never see the mystery man. This prediction was based off many reading clues. To elaborate, Boo could be locked away. Rumors spread about a fine afternoon at the Radley house. The people of Maycomb quickly spread the rumors of Boo stabbing his father in the leg with a pair of household scissors. Mr. Radley is reported to have run outside bleeding from the thigh. However, through little consideration, Mr.Radley was

strongly against sending his son away. This is where many citizens began to notice a reoccurring creepy vibe from the Radley family. As stated in chapter one, “The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes, so Boo was locked in the courthouse basement (Lee 14).” This short line from the book shows readers how different life was back in the day.

The sheriff is clearly a white male who, despite the vibe he feels around the Radley family, favors their needs in the circumstances given. However, in all reality, the kids seem shaken when they tell stories they’ve heard about Boo. The town has no part in protecting the family’s reputation with a few kind words either. Calpurnia states in chapter one, “There goes the meanest man God ever blew breath into (Lee 15).” The excerpt tells readers, even an African American woman speaks bad things about the Radleys. During that time hardly anyone listened to what any African Americans had to say. Dill, the small brave eight year old, is nagging Jem all throughout chapter one. Through creative characterization by Harper Lee, the reader knows Jem will not stand for the intolerable accusations against him. The reader knows, for certain, that Jem will go up to the Radley residence and touch the house, if it’s the last thing he ever does. Multiple times, the author made clear that the children believed they were asking for death itself if they had any contact with anyone from the Radley household. In

chapter one, Jem says to Dill, “ I hope you’ve got it through your head that he’ll kill us each and every one (Lee 17).” Dill is ruthless with his newfound obsession of making Arthur Boo Radley come out. This could be a good thing or it could turn out fatal. In the prediction, it states Boo is locked away or the kids are scared, but as the clues presented themselves, the prediction seems to be leaning towards the children’s fear.

During chapter three of How to Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Ewells were introduced. Harper Lee is giving off a strong dislike towards the Ewells immediately.

In chapter three, the reader is introduced to the Ewell family. The reader doesn’t need to read between the lines to realize the family is beyond arrogant. Burris Ewell is the first family member introduced and he isn’t setting the best first impression on Ms. Caroline. He is loud and obnoxious during class. In the nicest words possible, a room with Burris Ewell is a room with chaos. Furthermore, the small ball of energy is extremely disrespectful towards Ms. Caroline. She, as the teacher, is having a hard time with attempting to stop the madness in her own classroom. In chapter three, after Burris shares spiteful words towards Ms. Caroline it says, “ He waited until he was sure she was crying, then he shuffled out of the building (Lee 17).” The line tells readers how Burris enjoyed seeing his victims suffer. After this conflict presented itself, Burris clearly left the classroom, not to return for another year. He has thoroughly ruined Ms. Caroline’s day and didn’t think twice about how it made her feel. Not only are the Ewells arrogant they are plain dumb. The children only appear on the school property once a year. They aren’t getting the proper education they need. This makes it very hard to have empathy for the family. Also, the family doesn’t work well with the other citizens of Maycomb. Atticus was an honest person, so when he said “ the Ewells had been the disgrace of Maycomb for three generations (Lee 40),” readers know the Ewells are as bad as Harper Lee makes them out to be. Taking a step back, the Ewells could very well be insecure. They hide themselves in a rotten filth. Ms. Caroline originally wanted to send Burris home for the rest of the day to bathe. The reader can clearly relate Burris Ewell’s dirtiness to the disgust of a cartoon character with flies buzzing around. This could make the Ewells insecure along with short tempers. The Ewells present themselves as arrogant, dumb, filthy people with insecurities hidden below the surface.