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Boo Radley Prejudice

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Recommended: Literary techniques in to kill a mockingbird

“Do not judge my story by the chapter that you walked in on.” Nobody knows who wrote this quote however it is very good nonetheless. This quote shows that one should not judge another without first learning about their past and holds great significance in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird. More specifically this pertains to Boo Radley. Over the course of To Kill a Mocking Brid Boo is seen as a maniac but as the story progresses the readers view of him changes from a crazed psychopath to simply a misunderstood boy. In the beginning of the story Boo is seen as crazed psychopath who eats cats and spies on people at night. This is first shown as Jem describes how Boo Radley looks to Dill and Scout while they are talking about Boo and what he does …show more content…

After Jem first witnesses the racial injustice in Tom Robinsons trial, he comes to an understanding of why he thinks Boo is always inside. During the conversation between Jem and Scout, Jem says “I think I’m beginning to understand something. I think I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time . . . it’s because he wants to stay inside.” (304) Jem realizes that with all the hate in the world Boo probably stays inside to avoid all of that and just wants some peace. At this point the readers view on Boo Radley has change from a psychopathic mad man to a kind boy who secretly cares for Jem and Scout. The next and final change in the readers view of Boo happen when he finally come outside of his house and openly meet the children for the first time in the story. This happens at the very end of the book when Jem and Scout are walking back for a school play and are attacked by Bob Ewell. During the attack the two children are saved by a mysterious figure in the night and Jem (who was knocked unconscious) is carried back to the house. After Scout makes it back Atticus asks her what happened, and she tells him about how they were attacked and someone saved them and brought Jem back. Now in the room with Jem on the Bed Atticus asks Scout who carried Jem back and she point behind the door to where Boo Radley is seen standing there. In this moment the reader realizes that Boo is not mean or scary in any way and is just a man who is misunderstood by

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469 Words | 2 Pages

In chapter 28, it states that as Jem and Scout were being attacked someone came out and pulled of Bob Ewell from them. That person was Boo Radley, Boo had taken Jem and ran him home. This shows that Boo didn't care that he was going to be seen he just wanted to save Jem and make sure Jem and Scout were safe. This also shows how he had his stage of coming of age because he didn't care that he was going to be seen he just stepped up and faced it head on.

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181 Words | 1 Pages

Immediately from the outset of the novel, Scout and Dill and the other kids in the neighborhood judge Boo Radley and imagine that he is some sort of “monster” or “boogeyman” just because he is different and does not come out much in public. Just based on what they have heard or imagine about Boo, Scout races past his house as if her life depended on it. She did not take the time to get to know him at all until he saved her life at the end of the story when Authur “Boo” Radley saves her land Jem’s lives does Scout see him as a human being and realize that he is actually a good guy. In the end, Scout even likens Boo to the “mockingbird” that her father told her it was a sin to kill because it hurts no one when she hugs her dad and thanks him

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591 Words | 3 Pages

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.” Little do they know that Boo Radley will play a huge part in their survival at the end of the book when the crazy Bob Ewell Attacks them and Boo Radley protected them, something that Jem and scout would’ve never imagined, But something that the reader could foreshadow. Due to Boo’s acts of kindness like when he returned Jem’s pants sowed after he got them caught on the barb wire fence while he was snooping and around and also the gifts he left in the knot of the tree that helped him build a deeper sentimental relationship with Jem and Scout even if the kids did not know it. Boo had built such a relationship with them that he had done something extremely courageous and protects Jem and scout from Bob

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818 Words | 4 Pages

“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” is one of Harper Lee’s most memorable lines from To Kill a Mockingbird (39). The reason why is because its lesson is found throughout the story in the most unexpected ways. This theory is taught to the characters Jem and Scout through others such as Boo Radley. This is why Boo is a catalyst through which Jem and Scout are able to learn empathy from the rumors circulating around him, a surprising night, and gifts.

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922 Words | 4 Pages

Boo does this because he enjoys watching the kids as they walk home and play outside in front of his house. Essentially, Mr. Radley is portrayed as a scary man where Jem and Scout satirize Boo due to his fearful image. However, they discover how they have treated a wonderful man appallingly. Boo is essentially a mockingbird, and Scout eventually figures

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463 Words | 2 Pages

At the beginning of the book Scout and Jem thought that Boo was some psycho killer who killed his own parents. However as the story progresses they start to realize he's actually a good guy. Another thing that told them was when they went to Boo’s house and jem lost his pants on the fence and when he returned to fetch them they were nicely folded over the fence.

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665 Words | 3 Pages

Additionally, Scout and Jem spend much of their time tormenting a poor, misunderstood Boo Radley simply because of the stories they heard about him. Harper Lee, through the characterization of Boo Radley and Tom Robinson, asserts that prejudice creates a blind spot in one’s moral righteousness. At first, Boo Radley is presented as a horrible and

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Boo Radley inclosed in his home had led to speculations of curiosity to Scout and Jem, which they try to pry out Boo from being silenced. As a protector of Scout and Jem, Boo steps away from the darkness to save Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. Lee creates the vanity in Boo’s appearance as valiant, redemption in the understanding of one's true self. Sheriff Tate dicates sin on Boo’s actions of killing Mr. Ewell in which Boo has “dragg[ed]’ him[self] with his shy ways into the limelight” only to save a soul of innocence “that’s a sin.” Boo’s actions had defined his myth in being a man of sin, and he had led himself back into his enclosure away in the

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721 Words | 3 Pages

In addition, after the Tom Robinson trial, Jem and Scout are seen changing their views on Boo when Jem says, “‘Scout, I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside.”’ (304). This proves that after many of the novel’s events, they eventually changed their view on Boo Radley.

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857 Words | 4 Pages

To Jem, Boo is a scary monster and due to "Boo’s" interesting home situation he is a mystery to everyone in the town. "Boo Radley is actually a kind, caring, and gentle person. He only means to do good. For example, the fire scene in the book when "Boo" puts the blanket around scout. Another example of "Boo" being a kind person occurs when Mr. Ewell attacks Jem and Scout and "Boo" saves them.

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915 Words | 4 Pages

Boo Radley taught them, in the sense, that you can’t Judge a book by its cover. At the beginning of the novel, Jem and Scout pictured Boo to be this “...malevolent Phantom (Lee 10).” that went out at night and looked through people’s windows. But after leaving them gifts in the tree and putting a blanket on Scout while she was standing out in the cold, Jem’s and Scout’s Perception of him began to evolve from a monster to a person.

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1484 Words | 6 Pages

Boo shows heroism when he saves Jem and Scout from being killed by Bob Ewell. Jem and Scout were walking home from the pageant and Jem got the feeling that they were being followed. Then someone attacked them and broke Jem’s arm and knocked him unconscious, and then he proceeded to attempt and kill Scout, but someone else pulled him off of her. Scout later realizes that the man standing against the wall of Jem’s room was Mr. Arthur (Boo) Radley. Boo had courage leaving his house, which he had been locked up in for a very long time, to help Jem and Scout and finally reveal himself to them.

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1193 Words | 5 Pages

Boo Radley is a main character throughout the novel and is a very significant symbol supporting the theme. He doesn’t like to “come out” (1) of his home because there are rumors that he “drove scissors into his parent’s leg” (12). In the close-knit town, rumors become the “neighborhoorhood legend” (44) and people believe Boo is a criminal. Everyone thinks he stays in his home because “no Radley was going to an asylum” (12) and that he is locked in the basement instead. At first, it seems Boo has to be inside, but after Scout and Jem witness the trial, they realize that “Boo…stayes shut up in his house all the time …because he wants to stay inside” (259).

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980 Words | 4 Pages

In the story Boo Radley plays the role of Scout and Jem’s guardian angel. He watches over them and helps them when they get into trouble. In the first chapters, the kids make fun of Boo, they taunt him. All they know about him is what they have heard, that he is a crazy man. Throughout the story though, Boo proves them wrong.

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1198 Words | 5 Pages

At home in the room lies unconscious Jem, who will be okay. Scout saw the rescuer in the corner of the room, but had no idea who it was until she realized it is Boo Radley. Scout said, “As I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with sudden tear” (Lee 270). Boo is actually kind hearted, he is not really the person that society sees.

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