Boo is a Crazy Maniac in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay

As an example, many people have compared characters from To Kill a Mockingbird to real-life individuals in Lee’s hometown. Alfred “Son” Boleware Jr., a resident in Lee’s hometown was the inspiration for the character Boo Radley. Like Boo, Boleware got in trouble with the law as a teen and as a result of his misdemeanors Boleware’s father kept him in the house as a “virtual prisoner” (Haggerty 90). Both Boleware and Boo were the subject of “endless lurid gossip and speculation” (90). This is an example of how Lee used people from her life and made them into fictional characters. Furthermore, the character Dill was also based upon Truman Capote, who was Lee’s next door neighbor. “Lee was certainly influenced by Truman Capote... whom she modeled the character of Dill” (Watkin 11). A third biographical representation that is portrayed in the novel is Scout, the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee the author of To Kill a Mockingbird used to Scout represents her childhood (18). Both Lee and Scout grew up as tomboys, experienced the same events, and ultimately grew up with the same people. The biographical details in the novel reflects the novel by making it seem like a personal memoir by Lee. Harper Lee was biographically influenced by the people in her hometown. In her novel she used townspeople she was familiar with as inspiration for the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird.

On page 161, it stated “Well, they stayed gone all the time, and when they were home, even, they’d get off in a room by themselves.” This show that Dill is a very sensitive person on the inside, and because his parent didn’t pay attention to him, this make him feel neglected and lonely. All of this make him feel that they don’t have any expectation of him and that why he came to Maycomb to meet Scout and Jem for

In the beginning of the screenplay Jem and Scout meet Dill (whose real name is Charles Baker Harris) who is a 6 year old boy that seems to stretch the truth about his father. When the three of them first meet Dill says that he does not have a father, but moments later he changes what he means saying “ My daddy owns the L and N Railroad”(Foote 10). If that does not seem a little questionable towards the middle of the screenplay he changes what he says again. Dill says “... my daddy was a railroad man until he got rich. Now he flies airplanes” (Foote 47). The whole thing with him and his dad just seems like it is exaggerated or made up after this point. Most might think that he makes this up because he originally says that he does not know his father. This is very probable because after Dill says what his dad, does he almost you could say fantasizes about his dad picking him up on a train or sweeping down to

When Dill runs away from his mother and new stepfather from Meridian, Mississippi to Maycomb County, Alabama, it’s because he never truly felt at home with his parents in Meridian. When he was in Maycomb with the Finches and his Aunt Rachel, he felt like he belonged. Jem and Scout first found Dill hiding under Scout’s bed one night and he told them one of his make-believe Dill-like tales (158), but later that night he told Scout the real reason he ran away. Dill felt neglected by his parents, saying “they stayed gone all the time, and when they were home, even, they’d be off in a room by themselves” (161). Dill tried to get along and spend time with his new father by planning on building a boat with him, but when Scout asked about it, Dill only said, “He just said we would.

Without Dill, To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, would not be the same! The book portrays Dill as a minor character but if he was taken out of the book the book would lack certain characteristics that Dill offers in the book. Dill enlightens the book because he gives the type of joy that other characters lack or do not show at all. The novel foreshadows Dill and focuses on the lives of Scout and Jem but barely mentions Dill life.

As many people’s childhoods form who they are what they do in their everyday life, Charles Baker Harris is no exception to this part of life. His decisions all form around one main point, his childhood. Charles Baker Harris, better known as Dill, is a vital character if the reader wants to understand the importance of childhood in To Kill a Mockingbird. Never failing to excite his own imagination and the other’s around him, Dill makes some decisions that are important to the idea of childhood affecting his life. A decision that would serve as an example to this idea is Dill’s choice to run away from his home and back to Maycomb.

However, as the book progresses deeper into the trial, Dill starts to show that even though on the outside he seems very cheerful and optimistic, he is still very innocent and cannot understand how and why “that old Mr. Gilmer [was] doin’ [Tom] thataway, talking so hateful to him… it was just the way he said it made [Dill] sick, plain sick.” (265-266) Dill is still a very young child, like Scout, who is still learning the ways of the world. Starting from an innocent boy, he learns through the court trial that not all people think and act like he does. Dill also entails Scout and Jem with an exciting description of his adventures with his new father.

First of all, Jem finds out that Boo was the one who left the presents. Then he finds out that Boo was also the one who fixed his ripped jeans. Next Scout is told by Atticus that Boo put the blanket around her during the fire. At first Boo Radley is seen as a mentally ill monster, but by chapter 7, we begin to see his more kinder side.

Harper Lee creates a grand entrance for Dill. In such a dull and unexciting time in the young Scout and Jem’s summer, a ray of light shines through, they’ve got themselves a new friend. Dill, lesser known as Charles Baker Harris, was first found by the Finch siblings when they heard a noise in the backyard next door to their house. At first thought they assumed that the sound was coming from puppies because they knew Miss Rachel, their neighbor, had a pregnant dog. They find Dill and immediately become suspicious and they try to determine whether or not this new kid is worthy of being their friend. After some discussion, the eldest Finch child decides Dill is good people.

Without any confirmation of any sort, the children come to conclusions on who Boo is and what type of person he is. They come up with a portrayal of who is because of their ignorance to the possibilities of his thought process. Therefore, Boo Radley becomes the subject of their entertainment without considering his feelings. In the beginning of the novel, the three children would play their own game which is based on Boo’s life. They would also think of various strategies of luring him out of the house, no matter what the strategy would be. One time, after the children managed to gain approval for Dill staying with them from Dill’s mother, Dill comes up with a “fool proof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost” (1650. The plan was to “place a trail of lemon drops from the back door to the front yards and [Boo would] follow it, like an ant” (165). The children at this point do not see Boo as a human being, but a spectacle and an animal. On many instances, Atticus would inform them that what they are doing to boo is cruel and a form of torture. As the story progresses, the children become tired of their game and think that “tormenting Boo Radley became passé”

Little is known about Dill’s relation with his parents, except that Dill has never knew his biological father. Francis, Aunt Alexandra’s grandson, tells Scout that Dill has been passed around his relatives. With this information, one could insinuate that Dill’s parents had an unhealthy relationship that progressed with the rise of depression, until the two divorced (unless Dill was born out of wedlock). With that, the mother could not raise Dill by herself from a financial standpoint, so Dill had to be shipped around the family. Later on, instead of staying with Miss Rachel for the summer, Dill stayed with his mother and new father.

Boo has a reputation of being a killer, through his teenage years he went through unaccounted mishaps which resulted in him staying at home being imprisoned by his parents. Having a commendable , clean reputation is exceedingly paramount in Maycomb society, his family made sure that he did not cop into several more confrontations. The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in maycomb (Lee 11). Nonetheless The Radleys have separated themselves from the rest of the

In the book “To Kill A Mockingbird”, there are many heroic moments. The character Jeremy Atticus Finch Is a very independent and mature young adult, who is followed by his sister Scout Finch whomst looks up to him and admires him. The two also have a friend called Charles Baker Harris, whom they call ‘Dill’ for short. The gang play and run every summer since they’ve met, but curiosity gets the best of them. A house owned by the Radleys have been a neighborhood mystery to the young children on the street. Jem, Scout, and Dill wander by and even onto the property, but they don’t know what grave danger they have walked into.

In Harper Lee’s coming of age novel To Kill A Mockingbird, the theme identity is uncovered throughout the whole story. The plot of the story revolves around the world of a juvenile named Scout. The events that take place inside the story, are also told through the mind of Scout, who is the narrator. Scout her family, which consist of her brother, Jem,and her father, Atticus. Live in a town known as Maycomb County, which is inspired by the real town of Monroeville, Alabama. In the world of Scout, and her family, Maycomb County is a setting with many real world situations like racism, stereotypes, and prejudice. To Kill A Mockingbird, has a surplus of characters with a variety of personalities, such as a youthful boy named Dill. Dill appears to be commonly known by people who live in the town, as jovial. But, truthfully Dill is going through hardships concerning his family. When Dill runs miles away from his own house, to Jem and Scout’s home , Jem confronts him by

Dill is one of the main minor characters within the novel. Dill helps raise the curiosity of Scout and also plays a moral character, as he does not understand the prejudice that is within Maycomb County. One can argue that Dill can be considered an outsider because he is not a native