Characterization plays an important role when it comes to storytelling. Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, uses different types of personalities from different characters, to pull the book together. Boo Radley is shy, mysterious, and protective, while Calpurnia is a hard working lady, that is a motherly figure to Jem and Scout.
Throughout the book To Kill a Mockingbird Boo Radley takes on the characteristics of being shy, mysterious, and protective. Boo Radley leads the readers to think that he is shy when Scout says “It was deep in shadow. Boo would be comfortable in the dark.” (Lee 364). This shows that Boo is uncomfortable around people. He is mysterious when the author tells us about the event “As Mr. Radley passed by,
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
Boo Radley is portrayed as a crazy maniac due to the rumors spread about him and a trial he underwent as a teenager.(Scout) "So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford, a neighborhood scold, who said she knew the whole thing. According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from 'The Maycomb Tribune' to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities."(pg 11)Scout and Jem look upon him with fear and suspicion from the stories that surround them from the time they were children. She gradually becomes aware that Boo is just lonely and wants
At the beginning of the novel, Boo Radley is addressed. Rumors have floated around, referring to Boo as a “malevolent phantom” while accusing him of being guilty of “any stealthy small crimes that were committed in Maycomb.” When Scout was younger she believed in these rumors, and always felt on edge when close to the Radley Place. Despite this, Scout, her brother Jem, and her friend Dill always attempted to try and get Boo out of his creepy abode.
In the book of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Boo Radley is motivated by fear and shyness because he is someone that have not left his houses in so many year, to which his mystery is born out of everyone imagination as a violent, insane, and unknown entity that all kid in Maycomb is scared of, especially Scout, Jem, and Dill. In chapter 30, it stated “Boo saw me run instinctively to the bed where Jem was sleeping, for the same shy smile crept across his face.” This show that Boo is motivated by fear and shyness because he is a shy and introvert person that save both Jem’s life and Scout’s life but he feared that if he were to be together with them, it would make thing weird. This also show that we should judge someone until you really know them because they can be different from how you thought they would be, and in this particular case, Boo Radley isn’t a monster that everyone thing he is, but instead he just a kind and gentle man that is motivated by fear and
In To Kill a Mockingbird, there are several characters that appear to be alienated from society, but Arthur “Boo” Radley is the most important to the plot because he causes mystery and curiosity for Jem and Scout throughout most of the book, but the mystery is solved by the end of the book. Boo Radley was, according to the book, as very pale and sick looking with his clothes in very poor condition.
He is referred to as a mockingbird because he suffers he is stuck and constantly talked negatively by the town.It's the only form of contact he has with the outside world. Boo (Arthur Radley) is actually a very shy character who is often misjudged by society including scout and jem. As the story goes on, we find Scout beginning to realize Boo radelys true intentions and the situation when she tells Atticus that exposing Boo would be "sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?” Throughout the novel, Scout, Jem, and Dill are curious about the "mysterious" Boo Radley because he never comes outside from his house or associates with anyone in the neighborhood.
Boo Radley, a mockingbird representing innocence, and no harm to anyone or anything. "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". This quote by Scout shows that since Boo Radley remains isolated and stays in the house away from the people in Maycomb, people just starts conversations and gossiping about Boo Radley even if they don't know for sure what really occurred or even seen him. Since Boo Radley is isolating himself
Boo Radley can be seen as a Mockingbird to the reader because he stays away from everyone like the mockingbird doesn’t bother anyone. He wants to stay away from people like in this quote scout figures out
Boo Radley is a mysterious and suspicious character, where throughout the beginning and middle of the book, Scout, Jem, and Dill have a preconception of him being a mean, old man. At the ending of the book, when Boo saves the children from Mr. Ewell, Scout sees how she prejudiced him based on other people’s beliefs. Boo is one of the most misunderstood characters of the book, starting out as a fantasy and a monster, but then he turns out to be very thoughtful, brave, and kind.
Boo Radley is one of the hermit residents of the Radley house. Boo leaves gifts for Jem and Scout and is one of the good people mistaken for creepy and
Boo Radley was the reclusive man who never setted foot outside his house. He is a powerful symbol of goodness. In the Halloween night when Jem and Scout returned from school, Boo Radley saved them from Bob Ewell who tried to kill them by the knife because of the hatred with Atticus Finch. Then he carried unconscious Jem home to the safety of the Finch house. Boo watched Jem and Scout day by day and gave them soft of gifts in a tree outside the Radley place. There was a lot of imagination with rumors about his appearance but he was scare to appear to save Jem and Scout. "First of all," Atticus said, "if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things form his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Jem and Scout learned some of things from Boo that they could not judge people without knowing them. Boo Radley was one of the novel’s “mockingbirds,” a good person injured by the evil of
A character that displays many aspects of being a mockingbird is Boo Radley. Boo is a man who initially in the story does not come out of his house due to his fear of being persecuted. He is seen as the town mystery and some people do not even believe he exists. On page 44, two of the the main characters who are children named Jem and Scout are walking home from school when they start finding a gifts inside a tree knot hole outside of the Radley place. The children assume the gifts are from Boo and their assumptions are later proven correct. The act of Boo giving the children gifts makes him appear as he cares for the children. In like manner, Boo exhibits the kindness of a mockingbird is on page 95. While watching Miss Maudie’s house fire someone wraps a blanket around Scout, but she does not realise until she gets back home. She guesses Boo Radley was the one who did it and again her guess was proven correct. This act of kindness models his selflessness. Lastly, throughout the story Boo is described as
Mr Radley was ashamed of his son’s behaviour when he got into the wrong crowd as a youngster and punished him by locking him up. There is a lot of gossip around Maycomb about Boo and people blame him for any bad things that happen in the neighbourhood, ‘Any stealthy crimes committed in Maycomb were his work.’ Jem turns him into a monster, ‘his hands were blood-stained’, and ‘his eyes popped’. At the end of the novel however, we find that Boo is misunderstood, and gossip of the town’s folk has made him up to be a ‘malevolent phantom’. Scout tells us he is timid, he had, ‘the voice of a child afraid of the dark’.
“But they also heard rumors that Boo Radley only comes out at night not during the day.” Scout and Jem start thinking that Boo Radley is a scary man or he is evil. The first time that Scout and Jem saw Boo Radley face, was when he saved them from Bob Ewell. Ever since Boo Radley saved them Jem and Scout stop believing all the rumors they heard about Boo Radley. Boo Radley can be compared to a mocking bird because mockingbirds are calm and don’t hurt others. That’s why Boo Radley is considered a mockingbird because he never hurt any known or bothered any known. The sad part was that Boo Radley was killed by couple of town’s people because he never came out because he was shy. (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081010185527AAZEssX)
Looking Beyond the Character Many times people have said that appearances can be deceiving, or that appearances are not what they seem. This can be proved true with the characters in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee shows many examples of this type of characterization in her writing. The story covers a few characters who the readers eventually get to see and know more about, who demonstrate a theme of how people are not always what they seem to be. As a result, the readers learn about these characters that they are not as crazy and irregular as they are viewed, but far different than their appearances suggest.