• Boo Radley o By most of the townsfolk of Maycomb (especially the children) o They think he is monstrous. “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work. Once the town was terrorized by a series of morbid nocturnal events: people’s chickens and household pets were found mutilated; although the culprit was Crazy Addie, who eventually drowned himself in Barker’s Eddy, people still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions” (10). • The …show more content…
Seeing how cold the night is, Boo sneaks out of his house and drapes a blanket around Scout to keep her warm. This is a nice gesture, and shows that Boo is a good person, despite the rumors about him. “‘When I went back for my breeches—they were all in a tangle when I was getting’ out of ‘em, I couldn’t get ‘em loose. When I went back—’ Jem took a deep breath. ‘When I went back, they were folded across the fence . . . They’d been sewed up. Not like a lady sewed ‘em, like somethin’ I’d try to do. All crooked’” (78). • Although we do not know who fixed Jem’s breeches, it is most likely to be Boo Radley, which if it is, it shows once again how Boo tries to help the Finch children. Boo helps to untangle Jem’s breeches from the fence, so he can get them back easily, since Mr. Nathan Radley threatens to shoot anyone who comes near again, and if Jem stays by the fence for too long, he risks getting shot. Boo also mends Jem’s pants for him, which is kind of him to do. • Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose o By Scout and Jem Finch and most of their neighborhood o Mrs. Dubose is an awful, malicious, hateful woman. “Neighborhood opinion was unanimous that Mrs. Dubose was the meanest old woman who ever lived” (46). o The stereotypes and prejudices about Mrs. Dubose are not entirely …show more content…
Dubose had some racist ideals, Atticus wanted Jem to see that Mrs. Dubose was brave in trying to end her morphine addiction. Even though it was difficult, Mrs. Dubose worked hard to do what she felt was right and to achieve her goals. • To a lesser extent, Atticus o By his sister (Alexandra Hancock) and nephew (Francis Hancock), some of Maycomb (Mrs. Dubose, Cecil Jacobs, etc) o Atticus does not properly watch over his children and is a “ngger-lover” (110) “If Uncle Atticus lets you run around with stray dogs, that’s his own business, like Grandma says, so it ain’t your fault. I guess it ain’t your fault if Uncle Atticus is a ngger-lover besides, but I’m here to tell you it certainly does mortify the rest of the family—” (110). o The prejudice against Atticus is not really right. “Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment” (6) • Atticus treats Jem and Scout as equals, such as allowing them to call him by his first name and giving them freedom to make their own decisions (that are well within reason). “‘You aren’t really a ngger-lover, then, are you?’ ‘I certainly am. I do my best to love everybody’”
...reinforcing the idea that the roles are now switched. Atticus keeps calm during most of the situations, but lets others boss him around and take control while he mainly sits and waits nearby. Scout and Jem begin to stand up for their father when he will not stand up for himself and act caring as if they were in charge of Atticus’ actions, protecting him from the evils of others. Scout supports this idea when she begins to talk very adult-like with Mr. Cunningham, especially showing her thoughtful wisdom when speaking of “entailments”. Atticus later shows that he is proud of his children for sticking up for him when he did not himself by massaging Jem’s hair in his “one gesture of affection.” So while Atticus often is being the best father figure he can to Scout and Jem, they are also very helpful to him by taking control of situations that he would not be able to.
Jem and Scouts’ father, Atticus, is very misjudged by their children. They believe that Atticus is a very semantic man that goes to work, comes back, and has no skill whatsoever in sports. Scout criticizes Atticus by saying “Atticus did not… or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone”(118). This demonstrates that Jem and Scout are not satisfied with Atticus’s physical and amusing skills. They thought of him as an old man in his fifties that had no energy left, and had a routine of going to bed and reading in the living room instead of running around. Later, they visit there across the street neighbor, Mrs. Maudie to talk about how boring their Dad is, when Mrs. Maudie says” ‘Well, he can make everybody’s will so airtight can’t anybody meddle with him’… ‘Well, did you know he is the best checker-player in this town? Why down at the Landing when we were coming up, Atticus Finch could beat everybody on both sides of the river”(120). This establishes that they find out that their Dad isn’t so useless anymore. Even though the children find out all these activities he is excellent at, sometimes even the best, they are still not overly impressed. After Calpurnia calls the cops on the dog, Tim Johnson, The sheriff and Atticus arrive at the scene “ ‘Take him, Mr. Finch’. Mr. Tate handed the rifle to Attics; Jem and I nearly fainted…’’d you see him, Scout? ’d you see him just standing there?...’n’ all of a sudden he just relaxed all over, an’ it looked like that gun was a part of him’”(126-129).
Atticus is a great leader of his family, teaching his children morals and life lessons. He makes them better people by showing them how to deal with the trial and people making fun of them. Atticus teaches Scout how to respect other people. First, Scout learns to respect Atticus, then to respect "Boo" Radley, and finally to respect a whole race of people, negroes. He makes it a common practice to live his life as he would like his children to live theirs, and thus displays the attributes of an honest, respectable, and kind man. Throughout the trial process, Atticus shows Jem and Scout that true courage is standing up for what you believe in and that all human beings, despite their race, deserve respect. "You never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." This quote shows that Atticus wants his children to get along with people, and so other people will respect them for whom they are.
Jem begins to understand that Boo is not dangerous instead he wants to help him and Scout. Boo leaves gifts for the children in hole in the tree and Mr. Nathan puts cement in the tree to stop Boo from communicating With the children. Also later in the story they find out that Boo put a blanket over them during the fire.
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.” During Dill’s last night in Maycomb for the summer, the children wrongfully ventured onto Boo Radley’s property. He shoots at the children, and in their escape, Jem loses his pants. He later returns to find them mended and hung over the fence.
As the story progresses, Boo becomes more of a symbol of kindness and bravery than that of the "town freak" which he is made out to be. Boo leaves presents for the children in the hollow trunk of an old tree, as well as covers Scout with a blanket during Miss Maudie's fire. However, it is not until he saves Jem and Scout's life from the hands of the deranged Mr. Ewell, that Boo shows his true heroic character. Even though Boo is a physically weaker man, he shows no fear when it comes to protecting Jem and Scout's life.
Atticus teaches them that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because in doing so you are killing something that has not done any harm to you. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.’ This is like a metaphor to teach the children that if someone who is good and pure-hearted they don’t deserve to be treated badly or unjustly. Additionally, Atticus says “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.” He says this to teach Jem and Scout to not think they know someone until they know what they are going through. Most of the town didn’t give people a chance, the white folk of the town wouldn’t give the coloured folk half a minute to get to know and understand them. It takes time for Scout to understand what Atticus was try to say, but later on in the book you get to see Scout put this into practice and is sympathetic and understanding towards Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley. As a result, throughout the book Scout and Jem grow and become more sympathetic and loving towards everybody in the town, coloured or
...rapes a blanket over Scout. Later Atticus asks about it and Scout realises she has no idea who had given her the blanket. Jem than understands that it was Boo Radley who had done this.
The so called “Radley Game” that Jem, Dill, and Scout play in chapter 4 suggests that kids sometimes make preconceptions due to ignorance of the topic or situation at hand, as do most of the adults in Maycomb. All of the children's’ ignorance can be summed up in one sentence when Jem says, “He died years ago and they stuffed him up the chimney” (Lee 39). Jem knows the wrong in playing the Radley game when he deliberately lies to Atticus about the game, noticing his sternness. As a reader, on must infer that these stories have been passed down from the children’s parents in town since Boo Radley got in trouble years ago. Thus, both the children and the adults are equally ignorant dealing with the Boo Radley
Boo is also important to the work of literature due to him being misunderstood. At the beginning of the novel, the kids, and the reader is brought into believing that Boo looks and acts like a Monster due to the rumors from the townspeople. Toward the end of the novel the reader, Scout and Jem are led to believe that the rumors are not exactly true like when Boo puts the blanket on Scout and when he gives the gifts to the kids via the tree. But at the very end of the novel, Scout, and the reader finds out that Boo isn't a monster and is just a normal guy. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo is is a common scapegoat for mishaps in Maycomb and is his intentions are
A main illustration of this is when Boo saves the Finch children from Bob Ewell's attack. Once Scout sees Boo for the first time, she recognizes him instantly while the “neighbor’s image blurred with [her] sudden tears” (Lee 270). Consequently, Scout is finally able to visualize Boo as a human, and has her hero. Like a child seeing their father after long time, the protection Boo provides brings her to tears, which brings out another quality of Boo. Furthermore, after summarizing the past four years of her childhood through Boo’s eyes, Scout imagines, “ Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children’s heart break. Autumn again. And Boo’s children needed him” (Lee 279). As a result, Scout notices how Boo has watched over her all this time. He is no monster, but a father figure in disguise who wants the best for his
In this scene, Jem comes of age when watching Atticus shoot a gun to save the town from a rabid dog. This was an important scene where it comes to a conflict between Atticus and the rabid dog after Atticus shot the rabid dog. “The rifle cracked. Tim
“Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he existed, but Jem and i had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work.”(Lee 10)
Atticus is a trusted and respected lawyer he always does what’s right and always does his job to the best of his abilities. The text states in chapter 21, “Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.” This was said by Reverend Sykes, he respected Atticus for defending Tom Robinson and felt that Atticus should he thanked and honored for everything he did. Atticus is trusted to always do what is right, and not give up when he knows something is wrong. The text states in chapter 24, “Whether Maycomb knows it or not, we’re paying the highest tribute we can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It’s that simple.” This was said by Miss Maudie, she says this after Aunt Alexandra asked what the town wants from Atticus, the town knew that Atticus was going to do the right thing and wasn’t going to give up, the town and Tom relied on him to do his best to get justice done. Atticus is respected by not only the community but he is also trusted, respected, and loved by his kids because they see all that he does and respects that. The text states in chapter 1 and 11, “Jem and I found our father satisfactory: he played with us, read to us, and treated us with courteous detachment.” And "It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.” Jem and Scout loved their father and he
Boo is actually a very shy character who is misjudged by society including Jem and Scout. However, as the story goes on, Scout begins to realise Boo's situation when she tells Atticus that exposing Boo would be "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"(Lee 370). The children are the among the few members of the community, aside from Atticus, who are able to accept the fact that Boo is not forced to stay inside, he simply chooses to. They begin to respect his privacy and not bother him anymore. The children understand that if Boo wants to venture outside one day, he will. They just have to be patient. Finally, the night of the pageant, when Mr. Ewell attacks Jem and Scout, Boo rescues them. This shows that he is willing to leave the safety of his home in order to protect the children he cares for, even though they have not officially met. Afterwards, when Heck Tate is speaking to Atticus, he tells him that Bob Ewell had fallen onto his own knife and killed himself. This explanation will stop the gossip and accusation of Boo killing Mr. Ewell.