In To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley remains an outsider who never sets foot outside of his house until the very end of the novel. Residents in Maycomb describe Boo Radley as a monster who eats cats and squirrels. However, he stands for a powerful symbol of generosity and innocence. He leaves little presents in the knothole of a tree for Jem and Scout and he also saves the kids at a very dangerous moment in the novel when they are being chased. Boo Radley represents the “mockingbird” in the book because he is a righteous man that is damaged by the corruption of society. Boo is simply an innocent man that is misunderstood by the people of Maycomb.
Boo Radley was mocked and segregated by the residents in Maycomb because he was seen as a monster
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in their eyes. They spread rumors about him because the people did not know the real facts about Boo and that is also why they were afraid of him. No one in Maycomb had any valid information or facts about Boo Radley because he did not step foot outside of his house for twenty- five years. Despite being afraid of Boo, Jem and Scout wanted to meet him one day. Jem and Scout grew up hearing the rumors about how Boo stabbed his father with a pair of scissors and how he ate bizarre creatures for dinner. In Jem, Scout, and Dill’s case, they mocked Boo Radley because he was different from the others and they were metaphorically killing him due to their comments about his identity of being the, “…malevolent phantom” (Lee 8). A mockingbird represents pure innocence that does no harm to anyone or anything. This is exactly what Boo Radley symbolizes throughout the novel. "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" (Lee 9). This quote from the book shows that people in Maycomb start conversations about Boo even when they have never seen him before due to the fact that he remains secluded away from the people. Boo Radley is given a bad reputation because of his isolation from society. Residents in Maycomb recognize Boo Radley as a monster that hurts people but in reality he would not harm a bone on a man’s body. One day Atticus told Jem that it was a sin to shot a mockingbird.
Scout was curious about why Atticus said this to Jem. Miss Maudie replied to Scout 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). Atticus told this to Jem because mockingbirds only sing and produce music for the people and it would not be fair for Jem to shot the birds for his own pleasure. Boo Radley can be compared to mockingbirds because he does not do anything to harm but instead does good for the …show more content…
town. Disregarding the pain caused by all the rumors, Boo still does many nice things for the children. When Scout walked by the tree on the Radley’s property she realized, “Tin-foil was sticking out of a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on my tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers" (Lee 33). One of the first signs that Boo Radley was trying to become friends with the children was when he left little gifts in the knothole of the tree. Scout and Jem’s feelings about Boo noticeably changed when he gave them gifts; it shows that he is a good person in the inside. Hiding gifts in the knothole shows his generosity to Jem and Scout, since he isolates himself from Maycomb. Boo Radley symbolizes the good that lives within people who preform good deeds for the community. No one ever looked at Boo Radley’s perspective of the world until Scout stood on his porch looking at the other houses in the neighborhood.
It was not until later when Scout realized that the person that saved them from Bob Ewell was standing in the bedroom with her. Harper Lee described that when Scout, "… pointed to him his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy sweat steaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt… I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor's image blurred with my sudden tears. "Hey, Boo," I said" (270). This was the first time in the novel that Boo and Scout reacted with each other in person. Scout finally realized that Boo Radley was not the person everyone made him to be. He was friendly neighbor that was trying to protect the lives of the children from any danger. When Scout was walking Boo Radley back to his home she thought to herself, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough" (Lee 279). Standing on Boo Radley’s porch, Scout finally got to see the world from his point of
view. Someone’s true identity shows through with their actions. Boo was originally portrayed as a bad person because of all the rumors and gossip that were spread throughout the town, but his true personality showed when he gave gifts to the children and also when he saved their lives. Boo’s innocence and kindness inside of him never faded even through all of the judgmental comments. Boo Radley remains the true mockingbird due to the gentleness and innocence he showed towards the children. People should not believe the rumors about someone until they stand in their footsteps.
Boo Radley’s reclusive nature caused by years of hiding away in his house is not due to his ‘evil’ nature, but rather a disability that causes Boo to look and act differently than most citizens of Maycomb. Boo’s mental handicap is used to drive the first part of the novel, and sets up for Tom Robinson’s jury case in the second part. His reclusiveness and disability sets up an interesting idea in the work that those who don’t look or act a certain way in Maycomb are considered outcasts or rejects. This is also true for Walter Cunningham and his family. The townspeople of Maycomb believe that because of who and what he is- a Cunningham- Walter will never amount to much more than a dirt-poor farmer
Boo Radley was a white man that no one hardly ever seen or knew. Everyone thought he was mean, and crazy. Scout narrates “As Mr.Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parents leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants and resumed his activities(11). The story was not true, but that’s what everyone thought of when they talked about Boo Radley. Boo Radley was actually the exact opposite of what people thought of him to be. Jem and Scout would find little things in an old tree, and they had realized that Boo Radley was the one who was leaving them things. Also when Jem pants was tangled on the fence, he left and came back to try and pry them off and they were neatly folded across the fence, untangled. Lots of people stereotyped him to be something that he’s not, which means he’s a mockingbird because he is nothing but
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...
“I’d rather you shoot at tin cans in the backyard, but I know you’ll go after the birds. Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mocking bird.” Atticus Finch recites these lines to his two children, Jem and Scout after he gives them air-rifles for Christmas. Scout is curious, as this is the first time that she has ever heard her father refer to anything as a sin, Scout asks Miss Maude what Atticus meant by this. Miss Maude tells Scout that mocking birds don’t rip up people’s garden’s or annoy them in any way, all they do is play beautiful music for us to listen to.
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.
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
According to To Kill a Mockingbird, two characters, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, share appealing connections with each other throughout the book. I was astonished to realize at the end of the book that Radley and Robinson both are misjudged by the town of Maycomb, Alabama, without any justifications or reasons. I also realized from analyzing and reading the two stories conveys similar connections to our own social lives and culture of how people like Radley or Robinson were misjudged by their appearance and status. In the text, Boo Radley was misjudged from conspiracies and rumors that the kids- Jem, Scout, and Dill mention. The kids actually believe about these rumors that Boo Radley or Arthur was a ghost figure who never coming out from his
Boo Radley was a man who was never seen out of his house. Since the people of the town saw that he was different than them they thought he was bad. Boo had no chance to stand up for himself because he always stayed inside. Like Boo Radley, Tom Robinson is characterized by what the people of Maycomb county say about him. After being accused of rape, most of the people see him as an evil man. During the trial when Bob Ewell testifies, he points to Tom Robinson and says, "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin' on my Mayella." (pg. 173) The evidence Atticus brought to court proved Tom innocent. But because this story takes place in the south where many people are racist he was accused of the crime. Tom had no chance because of the color of his skin. Both of these characters were seen for things on the outside and not for who they were.
Throughout the book we watch the narrator, Scout Finch, go from a naive first grader that think Maycomb is the best place out there, to finally maturing and understanding the world around her. Throughout the book Scout is impressioned by so many people that Boo Radley is a monster that should be kept in at all times. Later we learn he isn’t, but one of the first impressions we get from him is a brute
Think you know Boo Radley? Not many people do. Boo Radley is a shy, mysterious character from Harper Lee’s: To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the book, Boo is thought of as a monster within the book’s setting of Maycomb County. He’s also known to be mentally ill and violent due to many stories about his past. However, I believe he’s just misunderstood. Boo Radley is actually a caring and courageous human being. Examples that benefit this idea include: Boo Radley giving gifts to Scout and Jem and saving Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell. Furthermore, throughout To Kill a Mockingbird; Boo Radley is shown to be misunderstood, caring, and courageous.
Boo Radley is thought to be a malevolent, soulless, deceitful person, but he proves to be a caring, good-natured person. In Chapter 1, Jem offers his perception of Boo Radley to Scout and Dill: " ‘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’ " (16). Jem perceives Boo Radley as being a “monster” instead of being a man. Jem comes to this conclusion despite having never even seen Boo Radley in person. Jem’s understanding of Boo Radley is based on the rumors that he has heard about him. In Chapter 8, after the fire at Miss Maudie’s house, Scout notices that she was wrapped in a blanket that she did not have with she left the house. Scout asks Atticus who was the person that put the blanket around her. Atticus tells Scout, "Boo Radley. You were so busy watching the fire you didn't know it when he...
In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Atticus tells Jem and Scout to, "Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird," he is referring to the notion that a mockingbird is a harmless creature and does nothing but sing and bring happiness to the world. Harper Lee takes the title for her novel from this passage because the imagery of the mockingbird is analogous to the characters of both Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. These two characters are "harmless songbirds" who are sinfully destroyed.
Within the beginning of the book, Boo Radley had a bad perception within the town of Maycomb due to abrupt rumors. For example, one of these rumors displayed in the first chapter creates a very violent image
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.”
It teaches them to not be prejudice and get to know a person before making a judgement. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley, was frowned upon by many people in the Maycomb community. He was rumoured to have been locked in the basement by his father and older brother after an incident involving scissors. Though never seen stepping outside his house, he intrigues yet also frightens Scout, Jem and their friend Dill. After different events in the novel, the children come to find that Boo Radley is not intimidating, but a man who due to his father, is emotionally damaged. Miss Maudie, a neighbour of the Finch’s, explains to Scout that "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.” The mockingbird is a symbol for innocent people, who are judged for no reason. Like the mockingbird, Boo Radley has people prejudiced against him when he is an innocent man. By using this metaphor, the reader is able to understand the link between Boo Radley and the innocence and morality. As well as the mockingbird, he also symbolises goodness. By secretly watching over Scout and Jem, he protects them from later being attacked by Bob Ewell, a symbol of evil. When Jem and Scout begin to trust Boo, they are paying the highest tribute they could pay him.