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. Everything regarding Boo is a mystery; people don’t even know if he is alive. Despite this huge lack of evidence, the whole town of Maycomb still thinks of him as a monster. Sure, he is an oddity, but not a monster. Furthermore, Boo is a human being. He’s been shut up in a house with no human contact for a very long time. “How'd you feel if you'd been shut up for a hundred years with nothin' but cats to eat?” (Lee 62). This quote portrays Boo as similar to Scout because she’s being asked how she would feel as a person if she was in his situation. By putting the gifts in the live oak tree, Boo reaches out, desiring friendship with …show more content…
Lots of things can be defined as “good”: kindness, bravery, and protectiveness. Boo embodies all of them. When he puts the blanket on Scout during the fire, he shows kindness. By sewing up Jem’s pants, he saves Jem from getting in trouble. And when Scout and Jem were attacked by Bob Ewell, Boo protected them. He never got anything in return, not once, yet still showed constant kindness. Even Scout thought the stories to be at least part true, but Boo still treated her with kindness. Maybe he did this because he knew the stories. I think he was scared of becoming the monster everyone made him out to be, so he did all he could to ensure the opposite. It’s possible that a small part of him believed he could convince everyone he wasn’t a monster, starting with Scout and Jem. Regardless of why, Boo showed his goodness no matter what awful things people thought of
Boo had a lot of stories about him truth or not, he never came outside, no one truly knew why. The town of Maycomb all thought of Boo as “A malevolent phantom.” (Lee 10). Scout, Jem, and Dill first judged Boo Radley as someone that was creepy. They made him out to be a scary “monster.”
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay - Perspectives on Boo Radley No one in Maycomb would ever think of going anywhere near the Radley house, that is because Boo lives there. He is the most feared person in Maycomb by far. Throughout the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the character Boo Radley is depicted as someone extremely mysterious since no one has ever actually met him. He has always been ‘locked up’ in his house and never came out.
Every kid in Maycomb county was scared of him, even walking past his house was a scary task for some. Boo is portrayed as the bad guy in the book, but I believe he was the total opposite. One day he randomly decided to stab his father while he was cutting out paper, and he thought nothing of it. In the book, it never really mentions what his motives for doing this were, which can show that Boo was misunderstood. Even though he did not care for his father he still cared for other people. He left several gifts like gum and soap dolls in a tree trunk, which Jem and Scout found and kept for themselves. He also wrapped a blanket around Jem and Scout when Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire. One of the kindest things he did in the book was when he saved his neighbors, Jem and Scout, from being killed by Bob
When we first meet this curious character he is preferred to as a "recluse" who refuses to leave his house. Jem, one of the children, describes Boo as a six -and-a half feet tall monster with a long jagged scar that ran across his face and teeth yellow and rotten teeth from dining on raw squirrels and any stray cats he could catch. This of course is only a fictional description of Boo, thought up by the children’s active imaginations. Throughout the story we see that Boo's intentions are in fact sincere and he is actually an intelligent child emotionally damaged by his cruel father, we see this in the way that he leaves little presents for Scout and Jem and emerges at an opportune moment to save the
Boo being the mysterious neighbor that never comes out many rumors formed around him like when Jem said “ 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…” (16). All these rumors made it seem like Boo was a monster and the adults played along. On the contrary all of these false accusations came to an end when Boo steps up and defends Scout against Bob Ewell. He was a sickly white and acted almost childlike. Boo wasn’t a bad person but all the rumors that had built up made it seem that way and Scout learning the error of her ways decides to actually interact with him by walking him home. She sees after that all lies that were told were mere gossip and without getting to know the person better the rumor could never be broken. Not following rumor any longer and instead allowing people a chance and showing their true
Boo would leave small gifts in a tree near his residence for the Finch kids to find, he mended Jem’s pants when he was caught wandering in the Radley yard, and he did Maycomb County a huge honor by executing Bob Ewell, a man who caused much to the town. On page 321, Scout says, “Boo is our neighbor. He gave us 2 soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.” Boo’s character was very honorable as he took care of his community without wanting something in return.
Boo Radley hates to create trouble, so he remains inside and lacks vitamin D causing him to be as white as a ghost. "I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time… it’s because he wants to stay inside.” (page 259) The quote explains how Boo chooses to not interact with the outside world and not get in anyone’s business. The community speaks about Boo a lot and depicts him to be a juvenile delinquent. “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…” (page 14) Here Boo is characterized to be a wild animal and a monster even though there is no significant evidence to support Jem’s claim because of society’s influence Scout accepted it as being true. Boo in all these circumstances shows how he genuinely is a
While the rumors said he harmed everything he touched, he was actually a kind person. Boo Radley left gifts in the tree for Jem and Scout, gave a blanket to Scout during the fire, and he even saved them from Mr. Ewell. Although he proved himself good to Atticus and scout, the town wouldn't ever know about his
Boo had a million rumors spread about him that were never even true but he was so shy to show everyone the real him. So even though he was never seen he was always there keeping an eye out for Jem and Scout. Believe it or not Boo was actually a very caring and compassionate child but never had the nerve to express that part of him nor would anyone even get close to him. While Scout and Jem were walking home from Scout’s previous play at her school Jem thought he could hear someone following them, and he thought right. Mr. Bob Ewell the towns scum jumped out at Jem and Scout insanely drunk and nearly tried killing Jem he did brake jem’s arm and knock him unconscious but before he could do any more damage to Jem and any damage at all to Scout Boo Radley stepped in.
As the people of the town never saw Boo leave his house they thought that he was bad. Boo had no chance to stand up for himself because he always stayed inside. Through dialogue he is characterized by what the people of Maycomb County say about him, which caused misjudgement. (add quote) Through the character of Boo we are taught that just because one acts different and lives a different life that they are not always scary and bad. After Scout meets Boo at the end of the book she realizes that he is not a complete monster with “jagged teeth” and “eats squirrels” (pg 14) he is a peaceful and good man. It is easy to misjudge
Since Scout and Jem could remember, Boo was in his house, never to be seen, no one ever got to know him, and no one asked him how he felt. It was said that he stabbed his parents, and sometimes he would walk around at night looking into peoples windows: “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch… his hands were bloodstained… 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.” (Lee 16) This description was given by Jem, who had never seen Boo, but planted in the mind of himself and his sister that Boo was a bloodthirsty savage. As the kids grew up, later in the story they eventually understood how Boo felt, they grew out of their naivety, and looked at things through Boo’s eyes.
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’.
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 is a very important character in the book, in fact, the novel opens with Scout and her interactions with Boo and is closed by it too. Scout learns about Boo though the gossip passed on through neighbors in the community. The stories are scary and many out of context, however, Scout doesn’t seem to notice this till after the trial. At the beginning of the book she plays a game that involves Boo, and she tries to torment him into coming out. When Scout describes Boo Radley she says, "People said 'Boo' Radley went out at night and peeped in people’s windows. That he breathed on flowers and they froze instantly. They said he committed little crimes in the night but not one ever saw him." This shows that Scout sees Boo as an object of fascination instead of a human being. She does not acknowledge that he has emotions or feelings, she just views him as a monster who does horrible things to people. Furthermore, we can learn that Boo is not a very loved or respected figure in the community due to his strange way of living. As the trial takes place Scout matures and her level of complex thinking increases, but it is not until October 24th that we see how her perception of Boo changes since in the trial she saw how badly they treated Tom Robinson and she directly connected it to Boo “I hugged him and said, “Yes, sir. Mr. Tate was right, it’d be sort of
Causing him to be a suspicious individual to the rest of the world. According to Scout, he’s a “...malevolent phantom” (Lee 10) Although Jem has never seen Boo in person. Scout states; “People said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him.” People in Maycomb made up images and stories in their heads about him, making him up to be a monster. (Lee 10) Atticus explains to Scout and Jem that the reason why he lives like this is he has “had trouble with the law, and fell into the wrong crowd.” Which made him give off the wrong impression to most people (Lee 12 ). Throughout the whole story, he shows countless acts of courage and has a huge impact on Scout and Jem. Even though he couldn’t escape his house, he still had a big impact on Scout and Jem. Firstly, one of the many acts of courage he wanted to give gifts to the children by leaving them in the tree in which they climbed. Boo leaves Jem thinking that the reason why he’s doing all of this is simply because he is lonely and Scout heard Boo crying. Secondly since Scout and Jem are so special to him, he saved them from Bob Ewell. There were tons of rumours going around about Boo Radley, which isn’t a surprise considering the town is full of racists and all people do is gossip. Despite the fact that people see him as a monster, he looks past that and decides to act nothing but kind to them. Considering the fact that