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Analysis of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird
Monsters in modern culture
Analysis of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird
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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 show us that a complete stranger can become your best friend in a single moment. Firstly the novel starts off with the children thinking that Boo is a monster but as it progresses, Boo becomes like a second father that loves the children. The book starts off with the children being scared of Boo Radley. He is like a mystery to the children and they try to get Boo to come out
He is a mockingbird because he does no harm to anybody except for Bob Ewell. Mockingbirds don't do harm, rather they bring pleasure and comfort to people. Atticus even says "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90). He says this because Mockingbirds are so innocent just like Boo. Miss Maudie even adds to Atticus saying "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. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird" (Lee 90). This quote relates to Boo because instead of singing, Boo was like a mockingbird in his house leaving gifts and helping the children. For example, he leaves gum and coins for the children and when Jem was running and got his pants hooked on the fence, Boo folded it nicely and left it there for him. This represents how Boo is a very innocent and loving
This excerpt depicts that Scout understands how turning in Boo for doing a good deed would be comparable to that of killing a mockingbird. Killing a mockingbird in these times was considered a sin due to the fact that they were completely harmless. This relates to the topic sentence because Scout compares Boo to a mockingbird, more specifically she compares the innocence of the two. She sees that a mockingbird does nothing except make music, similarly to Boo who does nothing except mind his own business and in the end save the Finch kids and the town from the burden of Mr.Ewell. Neither of the creatures cause any harm to anyone, so they should not be punished for their simple ways.
They have never actually seen or talked to him, and yet they are still children and believe most of the things they hear. The stories about Boo eating cats and squirrels are enough to scare them out of their shoes. The children love to play the game they made called “Boo Radley” which always ends with someone getting “stabbed” in the leg, just as Boo Radley stabbed his father’s leg. In part two, on the other hand, Jem and Scout stop playing their game and stop telling the stories because it no longer entertains or scares them. If they had not matured, these games and stories would still frighten them.
When the children were given toy guns for Christmas from their uncle, Atticus tells them that is a sin to kill a mockingbird, because mockingbirds are innocent creatures that only make pretty music and do not harm anything. Boo Radley is shown throughout the story as a gentile man when he covers Scout up with a blanket the night she was waiting on the sidewalk for the fire burning from Miss Maudie’s house to be put out. He also leaves the children presents in the knothole and saves their lives when Bob Ewell tries to kill them. His bad reputation comes from the idea that all people who isolate themselves from their communities are horrible, violent people who need to be shut off from everyone for their own safety, when in reality we are left to guess that he detaches himself from Maycomb because of some form of social anxiety or dislike of socializing. The comparison of him to a mockingbird is prominent at the end of the book, when Heck Tate is explaining to Atticus that it was Boo who killed Bob Ewell, and not Jem. He tells him that it would be best to pretend that Bob Ewell fell on his own knife because sharing the actual story would bring Boo into the spotlight, which Scout compares to being a sin as bad as killing a mockingbird. Tom Robinson also represents a Mockingbird because he is just as innocent as one. During the time when Mayella and Bob
Despite what people say about him, he shows that he is kind, reclusive, and courageous. He is kind by folding Jem’s pants. He is reclusive by staying inside his house. He is also courageous by saving Jem and Scout. Boo is a important person in To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. The reason he is, is because without him Jem wouldn’t have his pants and Jem and Scout would be dead and Bob Ewell would be alive. That shows that Boo Radley is a kind, reclusive, and a courageous person, also is
You can't always judge a book by its cover or a person by their looks . Boo Radley is one character in To kill a Mockingbird that gets judged everyday because he is mysterious and stays in his house most of the time, but really he is not what people think he is. Boo Radley is much more than a mysterious quiet man, all he wants in this world is to find love and friendship. The bird that the story talks about is the mockingbird, the mockingbird is not just any kind of a bird. This certain kind of bird has gentle qualities, all they want to do is sing their hearts with their beautiful sound and bring happiness to this society. Boo Radley has some
In the 1930s in the south, the Ku Klux Klan was in full swing along with the Jim Crow laws. Segregation was spreading like a wildfire all over the south. It was no different in Maycomb, Alabama. However, there were a few people that did, in fact, respect African-Americans. Those few included a man by the name of Arthur Radley. More commonly know to Maycomb as “Boo” Radley, a thief, creep, look through your windows, kill your family type of guy. However, Boo was not that type of guy at all. Boo Radley is a mockingbird. Boo Radley is a mockingbird because he protects the Finch children, he isn’t a monster but is kind and innocent, and finally because he tries to better the community, almost like a guardian angel.
Although Boo Radley only actually physically appears in the story once, he serves two essential purposes. At the beginning of the novel, Boo serves as an enigma to the children, giving them something to make the focal point of their games, as well as a topic of conversation. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Boo embodies more character than most of the citizens of Maycomb, emerging as a symbol of what is truly just and right. Boo stands up for what he believes is right, no matter what people think of him.
In Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley is a man who is afraid to leave his house. But, when Scout and Jem are attacked one night by Bob Ewell, Arthur “Boo” Radley gets involved and saves Jem and Scout from being killed. This act required much bravery and courage, also coming with the challenge of coming face to face with people. This, he had not done in a long time but was brave enough to face in a situation of life or death. Radley put Jem and Scout’s needs before his own.
This implies how a mockingbird is an innocent, harmless creature that does nothing but sing beautiful songs, so if his children kill a mockingbird, it is considered the same as committing a sin. Harper Lee takes the title for her novel from this passage, and it is because the imagery of a mockingbird is comparable to the image of Boo Radley. Boo Radley is seen through the eyes of other people and does not have a character of his own. Whatever it is that we think we know about Boo is known from what other people believe to be true. Boo is believed to be “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 blood-stained … What teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 14). Obviously most of this statement and other stories we have heard about Boo are all fiction. The symbol of the mockingbird can be applied to Boo Radley from this point of view as well. Mockingbirds are known for imitating songs from other birds, however, do not have songs of their own. Therefore, the same way a mockingbird makes itself present is seen through other birds, the same can be said about Boo Radley and his presence seen through the town of
In order to understand why Arthur” Boo” Radley is a mockingbird, it is important to know that he silently watches Jem and Scout. He resembles a mockingbird because of his natural desire to make the children happy by putting gifts in the tree, his compassion to help them when they stand outside in the cold watching Miss Maudie's house on fire.When Bob Ewell was killed the sheriff of the town is determined to report that Mr. Ewell fell on the
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
The novel addresses the themes of race relations, justice, the loss of innocence, and small town life. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are viewed as mockingbird characters because they are subjected to suffering yet they are harmless and innocent.
Thus, Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley are all victims of rumour, humiliation, and prejudice. Firstly, Atticus is humiliated by his family and his neighbourhood because he has stood up to an African American man, and then, is nicknamed “nigger-lover” for his decision. By strong evidence, Tom Robinson is proven innocent of rapping a young white woman, but is still convicted, and then shot to death because he is black. Finally, Arthur Radley is greatly misunderstood because of his mysterious background and is forced to isolate from society to escape the awful and untruthful rumours about him in Maycomb. Through the storytelling of Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Arthur “Boo” Radley, the reader understands how the mockingbird symbol is used to represent those who are innocent, and have good intentions at heart.
. Through many fundamental stages in the novel, the character of Boo Radley is slowly unraveled depicting his true self. As negative first impressions undergo a metamorphosis, Radley's character is gradually revealed. This growth and process of change makes the children and the reader realize that prejudgment of a person generally results in a misrepresentation of an individual. Because of this one misstep in the judgment process, many potential heroes could be missing from our lives forever.
When Scout and Jem got their BB guns they wanted to shoot the mockingbird, when Atticus said,? Well, it?d be sort of like shootin? a mockingbird, wouldn?t it? He explains that it is a sin to shoot mocking birds because they do not harm us. Boo Radley is just like the mockingbird: he stays inside and does not harm others, instead he saves Atticus children.