Violence and Alienation in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

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.

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 wasn’t allowed to leave his house often, meaning he was at home locked up for days. At an early adult age, Boo had a outburst, while he was scrapbooking his dad walked past and he triggered a feeling resulting in him stabbing his dad. “‘[...] Boo drove scissors into his pant’s legs [...]” (Lee 13) As everything went by, Boo was calm during the whole commotion. Since no Radley will be sent to the asylum, Mr. Radley insisted by not charging Boo with anything. So they locked him up in the courthouse basement. Being left in the cold, moldy courthouse basement for awhile was definitely unhealthy mentally and physically. Soon upon that his dad took him back into his house. Many people would say “ [...] he was high-strung at times.” (14) Being locked up not only in his house but also in the towns courthouse basement probably affected him in some way. When he was spotted a few times around town as people would re-call he would’ve look

Arthur Radley, also known as Boo, was the subject of many town rumors. He was speculated to eat cats, and kill children who came too close to his house. It was also said by the town gossip, Stephanie Crawford, that one day, while Boo was sitting in the living room cutting up a newspaper “ [His father] passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his leg, and resumed his activities” (Lee 11), and the family didn’t want to have the embarrassment of taking him to an asylum so they locked Boo away in his house. The rumors spread about him caused and were a product of his reclusion in his house. It metaphorically killed him as he could not leave the house because of what people would think, nor could he stay in the house because of the rumors it

This is most likely why Boo decides not to leave his house. He knows he will be treated differently and people would be scared of him. Like Tom, Boo Radley had part of him killed despite him being a gentle, kind a selfless

Boo Radley, or Arthur Radley had been kept isolated from the rest of the community as punishment for one act of delinquency, from what evidence is given in the book. He is seen in public again at the age of thirty-three, after he stabs his father’s thigh with scissors. Mr. Radley then keeps Boo at home after he spends some time in the courthouse basement, and never leaves the house. Mr. Radley and his elder son Nathan violate Boo’s rights to education and therapy, right to participation in community life, and the right to a guardian that would care for Boo’s well-being and interests.

He has had some incidents in his lifetime and his father made him stay inside for a punishment. People in the town commerce daily and are very social. They did not know why a weird man like Boo would stay inside and not come outside and join the town. They made up things about him because they did not know who he was. “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” (65). Since they did not know who he really was and looked like, they made up stories about him. These stories led to the children wanted to learn more about him, but also hearing these stories, kids would run by his house or walk a different route to not go by it. Really Boo Radley just wanted to stay inside. When he saw the kids being attacked, he wanted to help. Boo Radley is just a normal man who wants to just live his life like

Perhaps, he may be up to no good since he once was known to have killed chickens and household pets. Boo’s nonexistence added a sense of the unknown and fear to the children. The unknown can generate fear amongst the society. In the meantime, Mr.Radley’s oldest son came home for the holidays and that he was the

Boo Radley is an old man who is known for locking a man up in an outhouse. The town beadle to be exact. Later he stabbed his dad in the leg with scissors and went to jail. when he got out of jail he never came out of his house. He

Boo Radley lived a life of complete isolation from his community. As a child he faced the cruelty of his father and then afterwards he suffered because his community never forgave him and instead treated him like a monster. So Boo’s circumstances as a child and then the society around him made him a lonesome person. Only a person who could see through all that he went through could understand Boo Radley in true

Although a character may hide in the shadows and pose as an enigma, they may very well play a crucial role in the development of a story. In Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, readers get a peek at what life is like in Maycomb County, Alabama and how Boo Radley, a being of mystery in the neighborhood impacts the plot greatly. Boo Radley is the protagonist in To Kill a Mockingbird because a majority of the storyline revolves around him and his appearance at the end of the story plays a pivotal role.

The prison cell was hardly six feet by six feet, just a hollow prism of concrete with a callous opening of thick metal bars. There was only one way in and one way out. I lose the sense of time in here just like my old home, I couldn’t even tell if it was day or night, all I have are my thoughts and this pencil and paper. This place is bewildering by layout, so quiet that anyone could forget their own name. I haven’t, Arthur Radley is my name but you might know me as Boo, the name that has been given to me from the people’s monstrous perceptions. Maycomb’s townspeople have an unreasonable view of me, they all portray me to have mental issues, that I am an enigma and not safe to be around. I don’t know how these people got these views as I am

Boo was treated poorly, that caused him to grow up to be a bit awkward, which led him to become friends with Jem and Scout. Boo Radley, also known as Arthur Radley, lived with his father until his death and after lived with his brother, Nathan. Boo was known to be slightly mysterious. He was also treated poorly by his father. Mr. Radley rarely left his house, therefore, neither did Boo.

Boo, who had been locked up in his house for adulthood, was feared for his mysteriousness. Jem always told Scout Mr. Radley kept Boo chained up in the basement, but Scout pondered about how Atticus said “it wasn’t that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people ghosts” (11). Atticus knew there was mental abuse within the Radley house, causing Boo to isolate himself from society. When Scout spoke to Miss Maudie about Boo, she asked if the stories were true. Miss Maudie told her no and, “that house is a sad house” (45-46).

Boo Radley is made to feel like an outsider because of people's judgments. People treat Arthur as an outcast because he got into some trouble as a young boy and has not left his house since. The people of Maycomb are scared of what they don't understand, so they gossip about Boo and treat him less than themselves. Because of people’s judgments, he is made into an urban legend. Some of the Maycomb citizens fear Boo because he is different than everyone else. After the trial Tom Robertson Scout finally realizes that he