Character Analysis Of Boo Radley In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

One of the most important mockingbirds in TKAM is Boo Radley. He is a mysterious, scary, and courageous character that plays a very important role throughout TKAM. Boo’s reputation is ruined because of his previous gang affiliations and the scissor incident. One example of Boo being a Mockingbird is when he gives the children gifts by putting them in the knothole in the tree, but Mr. Radley fills in the hole. Another example of Boo being a mockingbird would be the time when Boo saved the children by killing Bob Ewell. He did it completely out of the goodness in his heart. My last example of Boo being a Mockingbird is when he gives Scout the blanket when she is sitting outside in the snow when Ms. Maudie’s house caught on fire. He did it just because he likes the children. One great quote about Boo being a Mockingbird is when Heck Tate is talking about the murder of Bob Ewell. He says “Know what’d happen then? All ladies in Maycomb

Boo Radley is a representation of the mockingbird because of his innocence and acts of kindness. While Miss Maudie's house was burning down, Boo Radley secretly wrapped a blanket around Scout. " 'Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you' " (Lee 60). Scout realizes that Boo Radley is a kind man who wants to protect and take care of her. The residents of Maycomb County know very little about him, but still spread rumors and view

In addition to his curiosity of the children, Boo also demonstrates acts of kindness and concern towards Jem and Scout. This is evident through two scenarios that occur; one involving Jem and the other involving Scout. When Jem leaves the Radley property after retrieving his pants that were stuck the fence, he realizes that the pants were mended and folded, as if someone was waiting upon his arrival. “When I went back, they were folded across the fence… like they were expecting me [...] like somebody could tell what I was gonna do. Can’t anybody tell what I’m gonna do lest they know me, can they, Scout?” (78). Jem’s realization of the situation signifies that Boo Radley does in fact pay attention to the children and wanted to do something nice for them. By mending Jem’s pants and folding them neatly for him, Boo had shown a kindness that they had not seen before. Boo had also shown his concern for the children on the night of the fire, when Miss Maudie's house was erupt in flames. The children were waiting outside for their father, and Boo realized that they must have been cold, so he went and put a blanket around Scout. Scout had not noticed this until she was back at home, when Jem suggested that Boo had put the blanket around her. “‘Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.’ ‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you’” (96).

But, Boo Radley is the person who left different kinds of presents for Scout and Jem and even decides to fix Jem’s pants for him. “Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.” (find page number). In this town of Maycomb, many people believe Boo Radley to be a scary, no one has seen him for years type of person. After doing these kind acts for the kids like giving them presents, he doesn’t seem so much like a threat to society. Near the beginning of the story, Harper Lee expresses the negative feelings of the people in the town of Maycomb toward Boo Radley, but as the story develops, these kids and some people in Maycomb realize he isn’t such a bad guy after all. “Why, we did. We stayed—’ Then whose blanket is that?’ ‘Blanket?’ ‘Yes ma’am, blanket. It isn’t ours.’ I looked down and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket I was wearing around my shoulders, squaw-fashion.”...“Jem seemed to have lost his mind. He began pouring out our secrets right and left in total disregard for my safety if not for his own, omitting nothing, knot-hole, pants and all. …Mr. Nathan put cement in that tree, Atticus, an‘ he did it to stop us findin’ things—he’s crazy, I reckon, like

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee one of the characters, Arthur “Boo” Radley, has a major struggle with society. He is an outcast. Boo being an outcast is caused by many different factors, he deals with it in different ways, and his struggle with society is important.

So he is innocent, and again being the symbolic mockingbird. As a result, Boo Radley could be the symbolic “mockingbird” through the interaction and actions of the characters.

Mockingbirds are only here to sing their songs and to bring us joy. A Mockingbird is innocent, without fault and only here to help. “To kill a Mockingbird is a sin.”(119) This is because a Mockingbird is an animal that doesn’t cause harm and has proved to only have a pure heart. Tom Robinson is the predominant Mockingbird. “Tom’s death was like the senseless killing of songbirds.”(241) Since another word for mockingbird is a songbird, this quote is telling us that Tom is like a Mockingbird and that his death wasn’t supposed to happen. The unexpected Mockingbird is Boo Radley. “Atticus looked like he needed cheering up I ran to him and said ‘yes sir, I understand Mr. Tate was right’ he looked at me and said ‘what do you mean’ well it’d sort of be like shooting a Mockingbird.”(318) Clearly Scout is saying that if Maycome were to find out that Boo killed Bob it would probably kill him because Boo delights in being alone. Tom Robinson and Boo Radley are the representation of the Mockingbird.

Boo Radley is an innocent man who was wrongly categorized by his father after a childish prank. As he is referred to as a mockingbird because of his innocence. This can be proven when he leaves gifts for Jem and Scout like the pennies,wax dolls and jems jeans.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee tells a story of Scout Finch and her older brother, Jem, in the 1930's Alabama. In the beginning Scout, starts out as a very undeveloped child not knowing the prejudice times nearby, as the story progress she gains awareness of these times. Arthur "Boo" Radley remains an outsider who never sets foot outside his house. However he stands for a powerful symbol of goodness and innocence, leaving little presents for Scout and Jem in the knothole and saving the children at a well-timed moment. He represents the main "mockingbird" in the novel, a moral person damaged by the evil of society. Throughout the novel many would argue that Tom Robinson stands for the mockingbird throughout the story, but Boo Radley remains the true mockingbird because he helps Jem and Scout and later save their lives, additionally Heck Tate does not expose him as a hero which would equal "killing a mockingbird."

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

Boo can be considered a mockingbird because of his innocence that he portrays in the book. In particular, Miss Maudie described a mockingbird and said “They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us.” (P.119). This quote perfectly characterizes Boo because he never harassed anyone and only did good. Boo always stayed inside his house and rarely left it. Boo did only good such as, watching over all the kids and protecting them when things got bad. In addition, Atticus tells Jem “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it” (P.30). After Jem finds out who Boo really is, she sees that he is a nice and innocent person who does only good, which shows that he can be considered a mockingbird. To summarize, Boo’s personality and his way of life shows how he can be considered a mockingbird in the

Without knowing the true character of Boo Radley, Scout believes Boo is a “malevolent phantom”, it shows that Scout believes what she sees of Boo on the outside, Scout does not see what Boo is truly like on the inside. Scout does not know what Boo is truly like and believes the rumours created by the citizens of Maycomb. The rumours Scout believes include Boo Radley peeping in people’s windows at night and Boo committing “stealthy small crimes” These rumours create the perception of Boo radley being an evil and cold-hearted man. The truth is however, Boo Radley is a kind hearted, caring person because during the fire of Mrs. Dubose’s house, he had put a blanket over Scout to keep her warm in the winter cold. When questioned by Atticus where Scout received the blanket from, Atticus explains to

In Harper Lee’s book the mockingbird is innocent and only makes music for people to enjoy. In To Kill a Mockingbird Boo Radley is sheltered from the outside world he is kept innocent as a child and he truly only made the children happy. Boo Radley is innocent and the people should leave him be, he is truly a mockingbird. Boo is sheltered from the injustices the world has to offer.

When Miss Maudie’s house was being devoured by fire, Scout stood in front of the Radley’s house, shivering due to the cold weather. She did not realize until she came back to Atticus that she had a blanket over her shoulder, which prevented her from freezing. She then finds out that Boo Radley had placed the blanket on her, without any notice. Atticus tells Scout, “You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put his blanket around you” (72). This quote shows the good side about Boo, despite the rumors that were going on about him, he remained a good person.

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