Boo Radley Symbolism

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.

A symbol is when an object, person, or a situation has another meaning other than its literal meaning. The major symbol in To Kill a Mockingbird is the mockingbird. The mockingbird symbolizes innocence. The symbol relates to several characters in the book. It relates to Tom Robinson because he was only trying to help Mayella, but was accused of rape and put on trial for it. It also relates to Atticus because he was harassed for doing what was right and defending a black man. Another character that relates to the mockingbird is Boo Radley. Boo is an innocent man who was wrongly kept in the house by his father after a childish prank.

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 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

However, all the neighborhood legends about Boo were contradictory to what Boo’s true nature was. He rescued Scout and Jem from being murdered by Mr. Ewell, and in the brief time he was physically present in the book, he showed no signs of malice. He was almost brought into the spotlight because he was the one who stabbed Mr. Ewell in order to rescue the children, but that would hurt Boo because of his content life of solitude. “ To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight-to me, that’s a sin.” (Lee 369-370). Scout also observes on the same page when Atticus tells the cover story to save Boo, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”. Scout was right to say so because it is true that Boo would have suffered a great deal when he was the one who saved the lives of Jem and Scout. Boo Radley

Atticus risks his social standing, reputation and safety by defending Tom Robinson at his trial. He shows this by saying, “I do my best to love everybody.” (144). Atticus takes the time to teach his children valuable lessons. Even when Atticus is going through such a tough trial, he makes sure that his children know what they need to learn.

When the Flinch children moved into Maycomb bad rumors were spread about the Radley house, and soon the children were terrified of this “ghostly” neighbor. Little to their knowledge Boo Radley was not a scary mean person like they thought. Boo taught both Jem and Scout that you should not judge people based on what rumors say. For example, in the beginning of the novel Scout and Jem find a knothole in a tree, but when they kept going to the tree there was always something new, like someone had been putting presents for them in their. “I were trotting in our orbit one mild October afternoon when our knot-hole stopped us again. Something white was inside this time.” (page 79). Even though Boo knew that the kids were scared of him and that they believed the rumors he still put effort into making their day and giving them something. Another example was at the very end of the novel when Boo Radley saved Jem and Scouts life. At this moment Scout had a whole new respect for Boo because he wasn't what everyone said. He was better than that. “ A man was passing under it. The man was walking with the staccato steps of someone carrying a load too heavy for him. He was going around the corner. He was carrying jem. Jem’s arm was dangling crazily in front of him.”(page 352). That was Boo that was carrying Jem back to the Flinch house. Boo Radley saved their lives and Scout will never forget him and learned a valuable lesson

In the book, Scout and Jem are inadvertently deceived about Boo Radley. Boo is a shut-in whose reclusive lifestyle is viciously commented on by the residents of Maycomb. The gossip spurs Scout’s and Jem’s fascination with Boo Radley and drives them to incorporate Boo into their games and activities.

When he shows that he isn 't a bad person, it shows how gossip has affected him so much that he needs to prove them wrong and show the good of his heart. Jem and Scout are fascinated and long to see Boo, but Scout is not sad when she sees that Boo isn 't freakishly large and bloody, but is glad to see a human, that might of just saved her and Jem 's life.

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

Boo is involved with the theme of innocence, courage, and prejudice. Scout and Jem treat Boo like some sort of monster. This is mainly due to the stories they would hear at school by other kids. The kids of Maycomb treated Boo like the Adults treated the blacks. He has not done a single thing described about him in a story, all of it was just some scary story. Scout eventually feels regret for her prejudice towards Boo. "We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad." (Lee 278). This shows that Boo was always kind and heartfelt, he had never wronged anyone and he stood up to a great challenge. Boo resemble innocence because he has never done anything to bother anyone, he just minds his own. He stays inside because he fears the outside world, Inside is pure but outside he believes is full of hate and evil. Boo also has courage because he was willing to go outside of his comfort zone to do what he believed was right He saves Scout and Jem, his intentions were never to harm anyone but help them.

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.

     The idea of a person living in seclusion in Maycomb, was alien to the children who lived there. Many children were afraid of the Radleys. The stories about when and where Boo moves around to, when he secretly leaves his house, are pretty scary for the children. Jem tell Scout and Dill that Boo goes out during the night when it is pitch dark. He tells them about the time Miss Stephanie saw him looking strait at her though her window. He also explains this is the reason why Miss Rachel locks up so tight (Lee,13). The children believe that many people are afraid of Boo. Because the children hear some adults talk about Boo Radley and how bad his family is, they believe that he is dangerous also. The stories of Boo being trapped in the basement or even locked in his house, we easily believable by a six and ten year old. “ Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time”(Lee,11). Jem and Scout believed these tales, like they were the truth. Being innocent children, they wanted to help rescue Boo. Scout could never imagine sitting in the house all day. She gets bored on

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

Boo saved Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell and risked the chance of being publicly seen after all the years he spent hiding in his house. It was like what Mr. Tate said, "All the ladies in Maycomb...be knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes...taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service and draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight...It's a sin and I'm not about to have it on my head" (Lee 369-370). Lee shows that Boo Radley had the courage to come out of his home to save Jem and Scout, and now it was time for Maycomb to save Boo. (Shackelford) Boo was able to save two of his neighbors as well as do what he feared, leave his