Effects Of Labels In To Kill A Mockingbird

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

The community has ostracized Boo Radley from the community even though most people don’t know him. “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.” (Lee 5). This is how the community saw Boo Radley in the beginning of the book (Lee). This outlook of Boo has made everyone scared to even walk past his family’s house (Lee). At the end of the book Boo helps Scout and Jem out from an attack from Bob Ewell when they were on their way back home (Lee). After that event they look at Boo differently till the end of the story. This type of discrimination happens in today’s society still and in movies everyone has seen such as the “Sandlot”.

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

You can not truly understand a person or a group until you consider it from their point of view. Atticus introduces this idea to Scout in the beginning of the book, he says “‘ You never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.’”(39). Atticus says this when Scout comes home with a problem from school. She tried defending the Cunningham boy because her teacher didn't know much about their town yet. Scout was upset about this because she didn't think she deserved to get in trouble, but Atticus explained that she should look at it from her teachers side and understand the teacher wasn't well informed on the people in Maycomb. Later on in the novel, Scout uses this lesson she learned from Atticus This is when she puts Boo in the darker area of the porch. In the text it says, “... I led him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate. It was in deep shadow. Boo would feel more comfortable in the dark.”(364). In this situation, Scout takes Boo’s needs into consideration, she thinks what would be best for him. She noticed how he hid in the dark corner and how eventually Atticus moved outside where it was darker for that reason. This is because Boo felt like an outcast and felt more comfortable where less people could see him. Also, Scout takes Boo’s point of view in a

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

In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee it has many themes going on throughout the story that can be related to. In the town of Maycomb it seems as though people classify each other and most of the time it’s inaccurate.Labels are used as a way to classify a person or thing with some form of shared characteristics. Society has labeled people, labels within people correspond with a certain image `and stereotypes. Although labels make life easier in certain aspects, they change the view on how we see people.

In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, Atticus Finch is a lawyer and father of two children. He is a very wise man. “You never really understand a person from his point of view --until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” (Lee 31). This is a quote from Atticus that really sticks the entire book.

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.

In our lives, there are many situations in which our identity, our values, and others values, affect how we act in certain situations. When an individual is involved in a conflict, then they may need to alter how they would normally act in order to address the conflict, which may, or may not lead to a change in their identity, or how others view their identity. In To Kill A Mockingbird, we are able to see how one's identity or actions that they would normally take can be changed in high-pressure situations through Atticus choosing to shoot the mad dog, Mr.Cunningham deciding to join the “gang” that set out to kill Tom Robinson, and Arthur (Boo) Radley making the choice to save the children from Mr.Ewell. One example of a time when a character

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’.

Boo is a painfully shy man who spends the majority of his time avoiding the outside world in his house. Atticus's’ children, Scout and Jem, and their friend Dill hear many stories of horrible deeds Boo has supposedly done by other town member, all of which are shown to be false rumors. Though he has never bothered anyone, and is kind to the children, he is met only with lies and fear of him. It is no wonder as to why Boo would want to hide away from a world that turned against him for not conforming to it’s ideal personality. Towards the end of the story Boo overcomes his fear and leaves his house to save the children from Bob Ewell, a bitter man who wants revenge on Atticus for making a fool of him at Tom’s trial, killing him in the process.

it's because he wants to stay inside.”.Harper Lee effectively uses parallelism to convey the idea that Boo Radley isolation is his own decision.The primary reason as to Boo isolating himself is not get idolated and influenced by the sinful and evil morals of the Maycomb community.But as Martin Luther King says that a mans true character is not determined when situation is “comforting” but rather when its “controversy”.This truly depicts the character of Boo as he secludes himself in times of contentment and ease however in contrast when society needs him he rushes forth and risks his life.His act of saving Jem is heroic and valiant which allows the audience to ignore the prejudice and assumptions of the Macomb gossip but rather to truly understand Boo’s real character.As depicted above , Boo Radley is a misunderstood character whose stories have but only entertained us but in reality the true Boo Radley is identified as being this courageous and pragmatic character due to the changing of

This event shows that Boo are really kind and care for other. Boo treated them as “his children” (374). This action also helps Scout comes to recognize that Boo is not a monster nor a phantom as rumors say, but he is a person with a kind soul. She learns that rumors can’t be trusted and believe what is in front of her eyes. With that though in her head, she becomes less fear of Boo. She practices that by going through Boo Radley place everyday without any fears. Furthermore, Boo also patched Jem’s pants. This action shows that Boo really kind and cares for those kids. He wants to them to know that they are friendly. Therefore, after this movement, Jem believes that Boo is a nice man. Those kids takes the signal and recognize Boo as a person, not as a monster anymore. After the Halloween carnival, Scout knows for sure that Boo is friendly, he just doesn’t know how to express himself, for the rumor has stopped him from interacted with anybody. She also recognizes that he wants to be alone and to be locked in his house, for he scares he might hurt

In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Harper Lee often expanded on the idea that people are not often what they seem at a first glance. Today in our world there are many people who are much different than how seem with a quick conversation. For millions of students around the world on the first day of school teachers may seem scary and sometimes mean. Many kids are intimidated by their teachers and are extremely nervous for the second day. But as the school year continues the students learn that their teachers are actually funny people and some are actually very interesting. Some pupils grow very fond of their teachers and form great relationships with each other. At first quick look students may think teachers are different than they actually are in reality. In the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” there are many instances where this lesson can be learned. Atticus Finch teaches his daughter “Scout” on several different occasions regarding this important lesson. These lessons occurred when Atticus conversed and acted upon Mr. Gilmer, a rabid dog, and all of Maycomb county. Atticus Finch can easily educate his children, so therefore had the ability to educate the whole town of Maycomb about the presence of racism. Harper Lee, the author, expanded that many people can be different than they seem at a quick glance, Atticus Finch is considered to be a character who can be portrayed in many different ways and is not understandable at a first glance.

Boo has had quite a few horrifying rumors spread about him through the town of Maycomb, but a rumor alone is not enough to build a strong fear of someone without knowing them personally. One of the worst stories that has been told was from Miss Stephanie to Jem. She said she knew everything about Boo, and this is what he heard when she told him: ‘[...] 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.’ (Lee 11) This rumor is definitely disturbing, but you cannot take everything you hear for granted. As the story was told from person to person, I’m certain some of the details of the events that happened got twisted around, lost or misunderstood. As pointed out in other parts of the text, Boo had a troubling past but since he has been out of