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How does boo radley symbolize a mockingbird
How does boo radley symbolize a mockingbird
Growing and learning lessons to kill a mockingbird
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Within the story of To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout walks in a couple of different people’s shoes. In this journal I will be evaluating the theme of walking in someone’s shoes. The first person that I will be evaluating is Scout, and what it would be like for her to walk in Boo Radley’s shoes. The first thing Scout would learn from walking in Boo Radley’s shoes is what it would be like to be convicted of a crime. A quote in the beginning of the novel states: “The sheriff hadn’t the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes, so Boo was locked in the courthouse basement.
Scout also understands Boo more when she arrives at his house. Standing on his porch after leading him home, Scout realizes the simple trick effect and thinks, “ One time he [Atticus] said that 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” (374). Scout literally stands in Boo’s position and understands how things my look from his stance in this world. Standing there, Scout understands that Boo was unaccustomed to the world around him and afraid of what it had to offer him, which is why he stayed inside.
Another thing Scout says about Boo is “When people’s azaleas froze in the cold, it was because he had breathed on them. All the stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work. ”Although Scout has never seen Boo or even knows if any of that information is correct, she says all the rumors that are spread about Boo Radley although she doesn’t know him. But at the end of the book in chapter 31, Scout then realized she was all wrong about Boo Radley, “Atticus was right.
After the climax of the book, Scout walked Boo Radley home. As Scout stands on the Radleys’ front porch, she also stands in Boo Radley’s shoes. The book even states “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man unless you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee, diverse conflicts and events change Jem’s feelings toward Boo Radley from being scared and don’t wanting anything to do with him to being interested and wanting to know everything about him. In addition, this developments in Jem’s feeling suggest that people can change toward others that differ from us getting to know them better. For example, in chapter 4 page 44 Jem tells Scout “‘Don’t you know you’re not supposed to even touch the trees over there? You’ll get killed if you do.’” but after, in chapter 7 page 80 Jem states “we found a whole package of chewing gum, which we enjoyed, the fact that everything on the Radley Place was poison slipped Jem’s memory.”
Rumors swept through the town, ruining a man’s reputation and giving him no reason to step outside of his own home. In To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, Arthur “Boo” Radley is the most complex of Maycomb’s residents. Many say Boo is a killer that should not be trusted near children. However, Scout thinks otherwise as she tries to understand Boo herself. She learns more than she figured, as Boo teaches her numerous lessons without even meeting her.
“You can't really get to know a person until you get in their shoes and walk around in them.” (Harper Lee) In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley sheds his reputation as a freak and forges a strong friendship with the Finch children. Initially, Boo is seen as an invisible monster by the Finch children largely because of rumors spread around Maycomb County.
Robert Mulligan’s 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird” closely follows the coming of age story of protagonist and narrator Scout Finch, as she recounts the events of a prominent trial in her small hometown of Maycomb, Alabama, in the 1930s. Mulligan cleverly incorporates cinematic themes that help highlight heroic actions and scenes throughout the retelling of “To Kill a Mockingbird”. Despite the emerging availability of colour film production in the 1960's, Mulligan's black and white format emphasises the context as one of a town where racial segregation and discrimination are the norm. Through the story there are a lot of characters that are presented with times to act heroically, however this essay will focus on
Boo Radley is Scout's neighbor, Scout, Jem, and Dill continually mess with Boo throughout the novel. When Boo was younger generation was arrested for disorderly conduct and disrupting the town. As punishment Boo’s very religious dad locked him in the house for the next 15 years. Rumors began to circulate because Boo was never seen. Jem describes, “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained… what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped” (Lee 16).
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee many characters are victims of the harsh conditions of Maycomb County. Often those who are seen to be metaphorical mockingbirds are punished the most. A mockingbird is one who only wants and attempts to do good. Characters such as Boo Radley, Jem Finch and Tom Robinson are exemplars of mockingbirds in Maycomb. In the novel it is explained by Atticus that killing a mockingbird is a sin because they do not do anything to harm to us like nesting in corncribs, or eating up the gardens, they only sing for us.
In her life, Scout has learned many lessons about misleading information, trust, and racial discrimination. In the story, Arthur Radley is a questionable character. Rumors have spread throughout the community caused Scout to become terrified of his house due to the gossip. He also gained the nickname “Boo” from many of the townspeople.
Scout recognizes the Boo Radley as the mockingbird because he doesn't bother anyone. Scout also recalls the time when Atticus said, " you never really understand a person's point of view until you climb into their skin and crawl around in it. " She interprets this as something to always keep in mind and to consider through her journey to womanhood.
In the middle of the novel, Scout is a critical thinker. Scout begins to think about Boo as a person. As the book progresses, Scout realizes that although the fact that Boo Radley stays in his house is strange, it does not have a major affect on his attitude and acts of kindness. From the presents in the tree to putting the blanket on them during the fire Boo Radley is constantly reminding and hinting at his existence. Scout realizes that she shouldn’t believe everything she hears and should think for herself; instead of going with what everyone else is saying.
Scout believes that she knows Boo Radley, but in reality, all she knows about him is the rumors that she has heard. When confronting Atticus about the rumors, he insists that, “you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,” showing Scout that not everything heared should be believed (Lee 39). When finally coming into contact with Boo Radley, Scout explains 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,” proving to Scout that everything she has heard about this malevolent phantom was in fact false.
Scout sees Boo Radley differently now since she has seen him and she sees with her own eyes that he is no monster but a hero and an average person. A detail to support this is in, Chapter 31, pg 283, “I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle. There were Miss Maudie’s, Miss Stephanie’s—there was our house, I could see the porch swing—Miss Rachel’s house was beyond us, plainly visible. I could even see Mrs. Dubose’s. I looked behind me.
