Arthur Radley, also known as ‘Boo Radley,’ for many years been described as a malevolent, dangerous, and scary man. But as time goes on, is Arthur as bad as the people of Maycomb describe him? The novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, is a story told by Scout Finch, a six-year-old living through the great depression in the small town of Maycomb, Alabama where her and her brother must mature fast when they experience the real world face-to-face. Arthur Radley is described as a scary figure by the people of Maycomb, but as the novel progresses, many perceptions of Arthur change for the better.
In the very first chapter of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Jem describes Arthur, “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” (Lee, 16). This shows the rumors that were said about Arthur spread to the kids, and he is assumed to look like
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Arthur, hearing the commotion outside his home, immediately acts to save the children. He stabbed Bob Ewell and carried injured Jem to their home, Scout following close behind. “Thank you for my children, Arthur” -Atticus Finch (Lee, 370). During this chapter, Scout has been seen to warm up and be kind and comfortable with Arthur. “You’d like to say good night to Jem, wouldn’t you Mr. Arthur? Come right in” (Lee, 371) “...I took him by the hand, a hand surprisingly warm for its whiteness. I tugged him a little, and he allowed me to lead him to Jems bed” (Lee, 372). This shows that Scout realizes that Arthur Radley is not a threat or a monster like the town of Maycomb makes him out to be, or else she would not be so comfortable around him. This also shows that Arthur is not a malevolent monster, but a misunderstood man who has been shielded most his life because of a few mistakes he made as a
Arthur now 33 years old was now back home with his father and was never seen again by the townspeople. Soon after Jem, Dill, and Scout hear of Arthur's story and they nickname him “Boo” because he acts like a ghost. Jem creates the “Boo Radley” game where Scout, Dill, and Jem would reenact when “Boo” stabbed his father. Atticus the father of Scout and Jem
By this revelation, all of Scout’s speculations regarding Mr. Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley have come to an
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a man named Arthur (Boo) Radley is seen as a horrible monster after being
Arthur Radley didn’t do any damage to anybody or thing, instead he executed acts of kindness to Scout and Jem, and even saved their lives. This aspect of Arthur Radley’s personality is shared by the description of a mockingbird.
On the other hand, after Arthur saved Scout and Jem he came to visit them and after he left Jem he asked Scout to walk him home and and they were walking Scout realized “If Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching from her up-stairs window, she would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentleman would do. (Lee, 373) Throughout the whole book we perceived Arthur as a monster but we see, especially in this moment that he is a person just like everyone else. Overall, Arthur “Boo” Radley embodies the mockingbird symbol very well because of how wrongfully judged he is and how he only helped everyone throughout the
The first character trait Arthur Radley displays is that he is caring. During Miss Maudie’s house fire, for example, Boo noticed that Jean Louis was cold and proceeded to silently wrap a blanket around her. Lee informs us, “‘Thank who?’ I asked. ‘Boo
Boo Radley saved both of the children's lives from Bob Ewell, but he had to kill him to prevent Scout or Jem from getting seriously hurt. Even though it was Mr. Tates job to take Boo Radley (Or Arthur Radley) into jail. But he decided not to because “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird,” Arthur being the mockingbird in this situation. Besides the important lesson Scout showed us throughout the book, She also showed how her childlike innocence impacted the events around
Scout fails to understand this, because her friend is a Cunningham, they are not ‘suppose’ to strengthen their bond. All of the children in Maycomb avoid the Radley house. Although he has never been spotted by them, they knew exactly what he appeared as, a monster. “Boo Radley was about-six-and-a-half feet tall... 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.”
Arthur Radley is a mystery to everyone, he never leaves his house, and his life is shrouded in rumors. We can infer because of the created perception about Mr. Radley that he keeps away of the Towns people because he is scared about how they will treat him. Throughout the story the children try to find several ways to contact or meet Mr. Radley, but all their attempts fail until at the end of the story Mr. Radley saves the children after they are assaulted by Bob Ewell. Mr Radley kills Bob to the save the children, after their first encounter with Mr. Radley the children wonder, “Why did he do it.”. Scout would answer that question by looking at his perception, she looked what he was looking at, Them.
Atticus sits down on the porch and talks to Scout about her troubles at school. He tells Scout “You can 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.” Atticus challenges racism and prejudice which is brought out through his children and from this quote we, the reader, can see this. Atticus tells the children to call Boo Radley by his real name, Arthur. This forces the children to think twice about their actions towards Arthur and makes them curious about his past.
Scout's growing understanding and acceptance of the people in her community, flaws and all, is one of the most significant ways she demonstrates tolerance. Scout, for example, is terrified of Arthur "Boo" Radley at first and believes the rumors that he is a "monster”. However, as she learns more about him and his situation, she starts to see him as a human being and develops empathy for him. This is demonstrated when Scout says "I was too old and too big for such childish things, but I knew that Jem's ideas about Arthur Radley were, to him, as real as the things he could see" (Chapter 6). This shows that Scout is growing in her understanding of people and her ability to empathize with them.
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." Moreover, the quote is Jem explaining to Scout; that the reason that Arthur might have stayed in his house all those years is that he's tired of seeing people being cruel to each other all the time. The quote shows the siblings' opinion change as they realize the possible truth of why Arthur stayed cooped up in his house for fifteen
At the start of the book, Jem, Dill, and she played ‘Boo Radley’ which was a game to torment Boo into coming out of his house and to test each other’s bravery. Scout slowly begins to realize that Boo is a human being just like her. By the end of the book she calls him by his real name, Arthur, instead of the nickname the townspeople give him. When she finally gets the chance to see Mr. Arthur in person after the attack, she acts mature and non-childlike. She respects that he likes the dark so she takes him to the chair farthest from Atticus and Mr. Tate.
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.
In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee shows that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge another person’s character based on outward appearance and the stories and rumors we have heard. The character Boo Radley is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t be hasty to judge. On the outside, Boo looks like a scary neighbor that lives just a few houses away. “.....he had sickly white hands that had never seen the sun. His face was as white as his hands…..”