Boo Radley Character Traits

At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird Scout and Jem were almost brutally stabbed and suffocated by Bob Ewell. However, Boo came out of his house them. This took him so much courage as he was afraid of the world outside of his “prison”. His love for the children drove him to do this. Even though in the beginning he did a small bit of bad, he is truly a“mockingbird”. Boo was even referenced by Scout as a mockingbird after he saved Jem and her’s life by killing their attacker. When Boo’s actions were to be covered up, she stated, “Well it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird (by giving Boo undesired attention), wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). Miss Maudie's quote morphed into describing Boo, just one of many ways it was seen in the book.

Set in the town of Maycomb County, this novel describes the journey of two young kids growing up in a small-minded town, learning about the importance of innocence and the judgement that occurs within. The individuals of Maycomb are very similar, with the exception of Arthur “Boo” Radley, the town’s recluse. Boo Radley has never been seen outside, and as a result of this, the children in the town are frightened of him and make up rumors about the monstrous things he allegedly does. This leaves the individuals in the town curious as to if Boo Radley really is a “malevolent phantom” like everyone assumes that he is or if he is just misunderstood and harmless. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Boo Radley is a saviour. This is

There is a dominant motif in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, regarding the symbolic importance of the mockingbird and how it relates to some of her characters. In Harper Lee’s portrayed world as well as our present day world mockingbirds represent nothing but pure innocence, thus to kill a mockingbird would be to destroy innocence. Atticus Finch, Tom Robinson, and Boo Radley are all perfect examples representing a mockingbird; innocents who have been injured or destroyed through contact with

Scout, Jem, and Dill work many summers to try to get Boo to come out of the Radley house for the first time in many years. Jem had been told many things about Boo in his short years in Maycomb, and he tells his sister Scout about the ‘monster’, saying, “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” (chap. 1). Jem’s ideas about Boo are very biased toward rumors that can be heard around Maycomb. This shows how Maycomb’s people often judge before they know, seeing as no one has seen Boo Radley in over twenty years and people are prejudiced to believing the unknown is always bad. Prejudice and rumors can often not be trusted and Boo Radley is no exception. After Miss Maudie’s house catches fire and half the town rushes outside to watch it burn, Atticus tells Scout, “someday you should thank him for covering you up” then Scout asks, “Thank Who?” And gets a response from Atticus, “Boo Radley. You were too busy looking at the fire, you didn’t even notice when he put the blanket around you” (chap. 8). Boo Radley is not really a bad person, he

Boo Radley never harmed anyone, but was judged by the rumors spreading across the community. Although he was not actually introduced until the end of the novel, Boo Radley is set up to be the last discovered symbolic character for the image of the mockingbird. During the last chapter of the novel, Scout comes to the realization that blaming Boo for Bob Ewell's death would be "sort of like shooting' a mockingbird." (chapter 30). Getting Boo sent to jail or killed would be like killing a mockingbird. Boo is truly a good person. He left gifts for Jem and Scout in the trunk of a tree, he wrapped a blanket around them when Miss Maudie's house caught on fire, and he saved them from Bob Ewell when he tried to murder them. Boo Radley is a victim of Maycomb's social prejudice and a perfect representation of Harper Lee's description of the mockingbird.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, losing one's innocence is a major factor in shaping each of the characters personalities and beliefs in the story. By looking at The Inevitably of the Loss of Innocence, we can see that as each of the characters are growing up, they get more shocked by the reality of the harsh world because they have not yet learned hatred in their peers and community and because of the realization that not everybody is kind and has good morals. This is important because Lee displays this theme in the story by creating conflicts such as Tom Robinson's trial and the children's reaction to the verdict. Lee uses characterization for Boo Radley by giving the audience an overview about people's view on him and the horrifying

However, Tom Robinson is not the only mockingbird in the story. Boo Radley is another harmless creature who falls victim of cruelty. He is unjustly regarded as an evil person and used as the scapegoat for all the bad happenings around town. Women are afraid of him and so are children. When the sheriff decided that he would not arrest Boo Radley for killing Bob Ewell and that would present his death as an accident, Atticus asked Scout if she understood the meaning of this decision. Scout replied that she did. Her exact words were: "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" (282). Boo here is also compared to the gentle bird and again it would be a 'sin' to punish him. The symbol of the mockingbird can be applied to Boo Radley from another point of view as well. The mockingbird has no song of its own. It just imitates other birds. Therefore it makes itself present and is seen through other birds. In the same way, Boo Radley is seen through the eyes of other people. He does not have a character of his own. What the reader knows about him is what other people say. He is believed to " dine on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, his hands were

People, forgetting to put themselves in the positions of others, often judge blindly. Several times, Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird demonstrates unfair judgment in court and in the daily lives of the folks in Maycomb County. One of the obvious victims of unfair judgment from other people is Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley. Due to the fact that Boo Radley barely comes out of his family’s cold house, people assume the worst about him. They spread false stories of how he devours raw meat of any cat or squirrel he could find, and some even say that he once bit his mother’s fingers off when he could not find any more cats or squirrels to eat! (Lee, Ch. 4) However, even when rumors about him circulated Maycomb, Boo Radley displays his kind and heroic streak towards Jem and Scout. Not only does Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley posses kindness and courage, but enigma as well.

Scout lives in a neighborhood where everyone's opinions, how they act and their appearances labels them. This is shown partly through chapters 4-6 of To Kill A Mockingbird. One day, as Scout is returning from school alone, she notices two pieces of gum in the knothole of a tree on the Radley's lawn. She takes it, but Jem rebukes her for doing so.

Boo Radley, the mysterious individual in To Kill a Mockingbird, is a very unusual character. I have decided to choose a very unusual individual in my life as well. I have chosen my mother. Many would think that a mother is a typical choice, but this is very untrue for me. I have known my mother all my life, but there are many things that I still have not yet discovered about her. We are very different people with our habits and our ways of thinking, so this project allows me to see the world through her eyes. Both in how she has grown up and lived her life has caused her to be a strong, wise, and independent individual, in which ways contradicts with myself. I am able to be with her throughout the day in my everyday life, yet I plan to notice

Boo Radley is thoroughly misunderstood. No one actually knows anything concrete about him; only stories and gossip constitute his personality. When talking to Ms. Maudie, Scout asks her whether all the speculation surrounding Boo is true. Ms. Maudie explains that it is not true, “[The stories] are three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford” (Lee 60). We know Stephanie Crawford is a huge gossip, so this proves nothing false and nothing true.

Over the course of chapters 1-7 in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, readers witness a turn in Jem’s characterization. In the beginning, Jem is portrayed as childish and gullible. He plays games with Scout and believes the impractical rumors spread about Boo Radley. When explaining Boo Radley to Dill, “Jem gave a reasonable description of 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.” (14).

did not allow anyone to visit him or have the slightest contact with him. Eventually Boo's mental state triggers him to stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. Boo's fathers causes Boo to suffer innocently by stealing his childhood experiences away from him. This indicates that Boo is a mockingbird because he did very little to deserve this torment and isolation that his father inflicted upon him. Then, Jem and Scout from the beginning of the story never fully understood Boo's past life at all, yet they judged him on things they hear about. They suspect he was basically an evil monster that never comes out of his house. Scout starts the stereotyping by creating a nickname “Boo” for the innocent Arthur Radley. This nickname robs Arthur of his true name and identity, causing him to suffer. Furthermore, Jem and Scout constantly pester Boo in an attempt to discover his actual identity. They tell their best friend Dill that Boo is like a zombie. Jem describes Boo as being: “About six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cat 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 and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 13). The stereotypical image created by Jem completely robs Boo

Every kid knows that one house on their street that is creepy and “haunted”. Maybe the windows are boarded up, or the yard is completely covered in weeds. Maybe the house is just old and rotting. Maybe there are rumors about the person living there, even though they just want someone to talk to, though no one knows it. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the main character Scout, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill live near a creepy house with a “malevolent phantom” (Lee 9) named Boo Radley living inside. Boo Radley ends up being a kind, lonely man who just wanted a friend. Boo Radley is the hero of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Often in novels, the most misjudged characters are the ones that end up setting the tone for the story’s theme or deeper message. Boo Radley’s character in To Kill A Mockingbird helps establish one of the central themes about innocence and good will, which is partially summed up when Harper Lee writes, “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird”(119). Atticus Finch’s advice to his children metaphorically applies to several of the book’s characters, but it especially relates to Boo. The characters in the book are quite different when it comes to their personalities, which is one reason that the plot is so interesting. Boo Radley, plays a large role in the story even though he does not even say anything throughout the whole book. During the novel, Boo Radley presents himself as a generous, misunderstood, and mysterious person.