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What Does Boo Radley Symbolize In To Kill A Mockingbird

Decent Essays

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the mockingbird symbolizes Boo Radley and Tom Robinson. Boo Radley is symbolized by the mockingbird in two different ways. The first reason that he resembles the mockingbird is that throughout the book, he does not harm Jem or Scout, and actually helps them. This is like a mockingbird because mockingbirds provide beautiful music for us to enjoy, and are not a vicious animal. When Jem, Dill, and Scout snuck into the Radley yard, Boo helped cover up their tracks. After Mr. Nathan Radley shot at Jem, Jem lost his pants. When he returned to get his pants, Jem found them hung neatly on the fence, sewn up by Boo. Boo also gave the children gifts through the tree. He placed items, including soap dolls, chewing gum, a medal, a watch, …show more content…

This is shown during the night of Miss Maudie’s fire. Jem and Scout were outside in front of the Radley house, and sometime during the night, Scout had a blanket on her shoulders. She did not know where it came from at first, but then she and the rest of the Finch family realized it was from Boo. He was looking out for the children on the cold, winter night. The second place the protection characteristic is shown is on Halloween. Bob Ewell was attacking Jem and Scout when Boo came to help. After Mr. Ewell had badly hurt Jem, Boo carried Jem back to the Finch house. He stayed very late with the Finch family that night; looking after Jem and making sure Scout was okay. The mockingbird also symbolizes Tom Robinson. He was innocent in his trial, despite the jury’s verdict. This resembles the mockingbird because mockingbirds are also innocent. There was clear evidence supporting Tom’s innocence. The most important piece of evidence was that Mayella was hit on the right side of her face, which would show that the attacker was very likely to have hit her with his left hand. Tom Robinson is missing a left hand because of a previous accident, so he could not have hurt or raped Mayella

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