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Character Development Of Boo Radley

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Zara Imran Ms. Painchaud Period 5/English 1A March 15, 2018 The Character Development of Boo Radley In the fictional story, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, the characters Jean Louise Finch or Scout and her brother Jeremy or Jem are the children of the lawyer Atticus Finch. One day during the summer the children make a new friend, whom they call Dill. Dill visits Maycomb every summer to spend it with his aunt, Ms. Rachel. The children develop a mysterious understanding for their neighbor Boo Radley and create plans to try to get Arthur (Boo) out of the house since they can not comprehend why he never comes out of his house. Although in Harper Lee’s story the children believe all the rumors the people of Maycomb say about Arthur, the reader …show more content…

In the book, Scout describes Boo Radley as, “...Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall... he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that is why his hands were bloodstained...long jagged scar that ran across his face...teeth he had were yellow and rotten, his eyes popped out, and he drools most of the time”(Lee 13). Near the beginning of the story, the children are even scared of stepping near the Radley house and considering it an act of bravery when a child ran and touched the house. As the story progresses the children are still scared of the Radley house but not as much and were happily accepting all the gifts in the tree’s knothole. Throughout the book, the children received gum, Indian head pennies, carved soap figures of themselves, a broken pocket watch with a good quality fob, a penknife, a ball of twine, and a spelling medal. These gifts from him show his kindness to for the children, how he wants to be friends with them, and how he finds them as intelligent. Boo shows his kindness and protection for the kids by folding and sewing Jem's pants for him. Arthur also must have asked his brother Nathan to not attack Jem when he comes back for his pants. Another event where Boo shows his kindness for the Finches was when Maycomb had snow for the first time, and Ms. Maudie’s house was in flames. While standing in front of the Radley’s place Scout was …show more content…

Due to Scout's curiosity for Boo, and Boo’s love for the children, Scout learns many important lessons. She learns 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’”(Lee 30). Through this lesson Atticus tried to teach Scout, she is not scared when she finally meets Boo no matter the fact that she grew up hearing Boo as a creepy and horrid person. Near the end of the book when Scout is dropping Boo home, she sees and understands what Boo sees and feels, and appreciates him as a neighbor and a guardian. Another lesson Boo helps Scout to understand is when Scout and Jem got air rifles and Atticus explained, “‘shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ‘em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird’…‘mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy’”(Lee 90). She is taught this lesson through the characters Boo and Tom Robinson. Tom was shown as a Mockingbird since everyone had known he was innocent but was charged, showing that they were sentencing a Mockingbird. Another reason why Tom is a Mockingbird is even during his testimony, he did not tell the court about everything that had happened that evening, just so that he could save Mayella one last beating. Tom tells us during his testimony that Mayella asked

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Miss Maudie tells Scout that Miss Stephanie is only lying about seeing Boo outside her window. The only other event where Boo was bad was when he was with his “gang” and he was still punished by his father for his actions. Another reason Boo is shown as the mockingbird of the book is because he has only hurt one person. The only person that Boo has hurt was his father and that is still just a rumor. When Boo stabbed his father with the scissors his father punished him and did not let him go without consequences.

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To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that is full of life lessons. The book opens with Jean Louise Finch, better known as Scout, telling of their family history. One day, while outside playing, they find a little boy named Charles Baker Harris, also known as Dill. These three start to get into many shenanigans, including investigating the mystery of Arthur "Boo" Radley; he hasn't been seen in years. There are a lot of theories surrounding him and why he doesn't come out, but we finally find out why at the end of the book.

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This explains how Boo had to get out of his comfort zone of staying in his house to do the heroic service of protecting Scout and Jem, risking the unveiling of his shy ways to the Maycomb community. After both children are safe and Atticus thanks Boo for his children, Scout takes him by the hand and leads him back to his house. As he releases Scout’s hand and shuts the door, never to be seen again, Scout describes him, stating that “He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives.”. (320) This illustrates how Boo Radley had acted as a guardian angel for the children; socializing with them but also defending them when necessary. Boo demonstrates courage when he chooses to protect the Finch children; resulting in having to murder someone and risk exposure after being a recluse for many

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Personal beliefs are shaped by perspective. In order to change someone’s opinion, their point of view has to be altered. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Lee shows the change in Scout Finch’s beliefs as she matures and her perspective changes. We can see this when Scout evaluates Walter Cunningham’s different way of life at her supper table, when she starts to witness the social inequalities in Maycomb, Alabama during Tom Robinson's trial, and when she learned the truth about her childhood monster, Boo Radley. While Walter Cunningham sat at the Finch’s table for Dinner, Scout, who had previously beat him up that day, was furious because he was the reason her teacher Miss Caroline punished her for the first time.

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