[insert title here] Literature is considered timeless when it has stood the test of time. The characters, and the content remain relevant present day, no matter when the novel was written. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee the iconic novel exposes timeless themes and issues which are just as relevant today as they were when the novel was written. The novel follows the eyes of Scout, a young girl. She observes many timeless issues and begins to comprehend the value of her morals. It is through the townspeople of Maycomb that timeless themes are exposed. To Kill A Mockingbird is a timeless novel because of the universal themes, moral values and life lessons explored in the novel by Boo Radley, Atticus Finch, and Scout. 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
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
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.
From Star Wars to the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn timeless classics exist in multiple contrasting formats and outlines. They all come in with their own unique stories and differences that make each one a must read. However, there are many things that make one timeless classic similar to another. Two important criteria that make a timeless classic include the kind of experiences it presents and the well-rounded symbols it uses to enhance the theme. These two criteria are important for a timeless classic to be relevant because they can directly correlate with the life of a reader or send them a valuable message; this is exactly what Harper Lee presents in To Kill A Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird is undoubtedly a timeless classic as depicted through the vivid and well rounded symbols it presents to enhance themes and the relevant, relatable experiences the protagonist Scout undergoes, which can directly be applied to any person even in the present day.
The town of Maycomb has created a horrible label for him because of his parents and social issues. Many people think as Jem, Scout and Dill that, “judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels he could catch, that’s why 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” (16) all because of the stories they heard around. Boo Radley shows the theme of coexistence of good and evil, because no one knew who he was so they made up horrible rumours by pure ignorance although he is nothing of a monster as people describe. He turns out to be a protective, shy and caring person at the end of the book protecting Jem and Scout from Bob
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
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’s character fits into the evil figure with a good heart archetype. As quoted in the novel Jem’s description of him was “ he is six and a half feet tall, dined on squirrels, and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained.” The description is as of a monster’s behavior not only by Jem, but also by the whole Maycomb community fears Boo.. As the novel progresses the children start to figure out Boo’s behavior “I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up
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 Radley is portrayed as an unnerving creature throughout the beginning of the novel, when Scout does not know much about him, only the stories and tall tales she has heard from neighbors. But as the novel goes on, the readers see a change in how Scout views Boo and her opinions on him after she has a better connection to him and after she has matured. Namely, an explanation of how Boo is shown at the start of the book is, “‘Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.’ My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up when Jem held out the blanket and crept toward me” (Lee 72).
“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. (9/147)” Boo Radley is clearly misjudged just because no one sees him. Rumors and assumptions often dictated people’s views on things at that time. Scout is also very vague when she refers to “people,” which could mean that no one really said that. Crazy Addie was convicted of nocturnal disturbances in Maycomb, but people thought that it was somehow Boo Radley who committed the disturbances. Jem gives a description of Boo that Dill and Scout consider “reasonable.” However, the children don’t know what reasonable is, because they have never really seen him. “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. (11)” Boo is also described as six and a half feet tall, and he kills and eats squirrels and cats to survive. This was a description by a child who has never seen the actual person. Children have a lot of imagination, so they tend to exaggerate things. They want excitement in their lives at the expense of judging a man whom they cannot prove anything about. Stephanie Crawford
He is considered a myth in the town of Maycomb. Scout and Jem were always attempting to get a good look at Boo Radley. In my opinion this takes a lot of courage because of Boo’s father. Boo’s father is a foot washington baptist; this means that he is heavily religious and he will not let Boo leave the house and not interact with other people, but thats the not the only reason. There is a reason why Mr. Radley is hiding Boo from everyone else, and thats what Jem and Scout want to find out who the man and the mystery is. So Scout has to face her fears with Jem to go onto their property and try not to get
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
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