Is Boo Radley Insane

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.'' This is the first step Jem and Scout take to understand Boo, as Jem realizes that, with all the hate going around in Maycomb, maybe Boo just wants to stay inside, away from society. From now on, the kids become less preoccupied with Boo as their, and the reader’s, perception of him changes. While Boo is still an other, he is no longer a monster and is now more of a mockingbird, an innocent neighbor trying to stay inside, away from the hate Jem and Scout are currently experiencing in

Set in the town of Maycomb County, this novel describes the journey of two young kids growing up in a small-minded town, learning about the importance of innocence and the judgement that occurs within. The individuals of Maycomb are very similar, with the exception of Arthur “Boo” Radley, the town’s recluse. Boo Radley has never been seen outside, and as a result of this, the children in the town are frightened of him and make up rumors about the monstrous things he allegedly does. This leaves the individuals in the town curious as to if Boo Radley really is a “malevolent phantom” like everyone assumes that he is or if he is just misunderstood and harmless. In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Boo Radley is a saviour. This is

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

Scout and Jem have only heard rumors of Boo, prompting their curiosity to find out more, thus their actions lead to poking into Boo’s life on his property. Boo was falsely accused of being a monster, stabbing his father with scissors, all of which were gossip that spread like facts. The children and Maycomb itself blames Boo and secludes him based on rumors not experience. All in all Tom Robinson, Jem, and Boo displayed the victim archetype.

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

She recounts everything that occurred in front of the Radley house through the eyes of Boo. Consequently, Scout begins to understand Boo and all that he has done for them: “he gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives.” She realizes that “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.”

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 left gifts for the children in the hollow trunk of an old tree, and he also covers Scout with a blanket during Miss Maudie's house fire. But, it’s not until he saves Jem and Scout's life from the endangerment of Mr. Ewell, that Boo really expresses his true heroic character. He expressed no fear when it came to protecting Jem and Scout's life. It’s not until after this traumatic episode that Scout is finally able to come to agreement with her true feelings towards Boo. Scout finally concludes that Boo was never spying on the children, but was just trying looking out for them.

The townspeople are confused by the Radleys because they did not socialize like the rest of the town. Scout explains, “The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb” (Lee 11). Just because they want some privacy and do not do things like everyone else, the people of Maycomb create this theory that the Radley family is strange and different and that can explain all of their behavior. After Boo and some of his friends lock a man in the courthouse closet during a petty juvenile crime spree, his father completely isolates him from the outside world and he is never seen again. The people of Maycomb, rather than question the extremely suspicious situation, assume that it is just another strange thing the Radley’s do. The prejudice towards the Radley family prevents them from realizing that something horrible is happening to Boo. Instead they dehumanize Boo and make him seem like a monster who deserves what has happened to him. The townspeople’s believe Boo is another strange Radley who does what he does because of his last name instead of using reasoning to realize he is trapped in his

The Maycomb community had clearly called out Boo Radley for many of the unusual things that happened in this society and it shows strong evidence of bias. In the beginning of the book Scout was explaining people’s thoughts about Boo Radley, “When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work”(10). Boo Radley was a person that rarely came out of his home, neither did he talk to someone or did anyone see him. The prejudice that was present during the 1930s had not only changed life in Maycomb but also transmitted the wrong message to the outside world.

He is a character that is imagined by the stories made from the people living in Maycomb. He is judged because of the many stories that have been made up about him. People believe that he is an evil person because of the rumours that have been said about him. Even though he has never harmed anyone people have been judging him because of the stories about him. Boo is first introduced in the novel when Jem gives a clear description about him. "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." (Lee 13) This description makes everyone think that Boo Radley is a dangerous character that creates a feeling of fright. In the entire novel, Boo is seen as an evil character however his innocence is not proven until near the end of the story. Throughout the beginning of the story Boo was only known through the rumours rather than the true stories or his actual personality. However, during the last few chapters Scout begins to realize that Boo is actually an innocent person and the reason to why he has been staying in his house was to avoid all the rumours and everything the town has to say about him. This

This description shows how the young imaginative minds of these innocent children, who have never witnessed Boo in person, could not yet distinguish between the real facts, and the fiction made up from the town’s rumours. Miss Stephanie tells the children one of these rumours, that Boo “‘drove the scissors into his parents leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities’” (Lee, 13). This frightening presence in the tired old town of Maycomb County, occupies much of the children's thoughts, but it soon becomes a curious interest, as it provides them with a new sense of excitement and adventure. They become quick and curious to conceptualize Boo’s appearance and life story, especially Dill, who was fascinated by the mystery of why Boo never leaves his house or never associates with anyone in the neighborhood. The children became overly obsessed with missions of trying to catch a glimpse of Boo, or persuading him to leave the house, that they do not realize that he’s watching them as well. The children come to this realization when Scout first spots a small item that’s secretly stashed in one of the knotholes, found on a tree in the Radley’s front yard. Scout and Jem are initially afraid from this secret gift, after all, anything on the Radley property is clearly stated in the town’s

First of all, to the children in Maycomb, Boo Radley is very mysterious, they are scared but want to learn more about him. Telling a story or a myth to a child is not like telling it to an adult, children will listen and assume it is true even if it is a lie. Miss Stephanie tried to trick the kids by telling them, “Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities” (Lee 11). By telling the kids he drove the scissors in his parent’s leg made them scared of Boo and it makes him look crazy. Miss Stephanie’s plan worked, it made them scared, but it made them even more interested to look for him. Myths do not make Boo fit in or make him seem real, but the kids still think that everything

Firstly, Boo Radley is a character who strongly represents the timeless themes examined in the novel. One cannot judge a person on something as insubstantial as rumors. Once feared by the adults and children alike because of the terrible crimes that he is believed to have committed, Boo’s acts of kindness towards Jem and Scout demonstrate that he is a man to be pitied, not feared. Jem gives a specific description of Boo based off of his limited knowledge from the rumours circulating Maycomb. Boo is “about six-and-a-half feet tall;” he dines “on raw squirrels and any cats he [can] catch;” there is a “long jagged scar that [runs] across his face; what teeth he [has are] yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he [drools] most of the time” (Lee 16). The

To start, however, I must explain the whole of the book to you. In the beginning, we are told that the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, is accordingly, small. The Finch family has a predicament where the two children, Scout and Jem, and their friend, Dill, want to investigate the Radley house. The Radley house is the creepiest house on the block, with its broken side panels and hanging shingles. The story tells us of quite the variety of schemes that they pull to try to pull the youngest of the household, Boo Radley, who was approximately his mid-forties, to come outside. At the end of the book they end up getting Boo to save their lives.