How Is Arthur Radley Presented In To Kill A Mockingbird

A drooling, scarred, yellow toothed ghost of a man or an isolated, kind, and miss understood gentleman? Arthur “Boo” Radley Jr.’s character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is an interesting figure. The events of the story, from the Finch children’s daily doings to Miss Maudie’s house fire to Tom Robinson’s trial, are all witnessed by Boo from inside the Radley house. Although Boo lives a concealed life, we see that he exhibits a caring and isolated nature that’s important to the story.
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

Mr. Radley Jr. didn’t desire being praised for his kindness and only wanted to be nice. Later in the story, the Finch children discover items hidden in a tree. Boo never had any practical reason to give the children gifts, especially after all the torment the children have probably given him. Boo wanted to make the children happy with no expectation of something in return. The most evident act of care from Boo was when he protects the Finch children and gets them to safety. Lee states, “He was carrying Jem. … Light from our front door framed Atticus for an instant; he ran down the steps, and together, he and the man took Jem inside” (Lee, 263). After all of Boo’s time hidden away from the outside world he came out and revealed himself to protect two children. Boo had a lot to lose in this event but cared for the Finch children and risked himself and his seclusion to protect them and get them to

According to the text, “The doors of the Radley house were closed on weekdays as well as Sundays, and Mr. Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen years” (Lee, 10). After a young Arthur Radley got into trouble with a gang or sorts, his very restrictive and possibly abusive father made certain Boo wouldn’t get into trouble again. This was probably the reason for Arthur’s very hidden and isolated life. There were only two prior instances where Boo had been seen; once when Miss Stephanie Crawford stated she had seen Boo staring at her at night and once when Boo had supposedly stabbed his father in the thigh with a pair of scissors. This lack of interaction displays Boo’s isolation. The strongest point of Boo’s isolation is that the townspeople knew Boo was alive only because they hadn’t seen a body taken out of the Radley house yet. Miss Maudie tells us, “‘I know he’s alive, Jean Louise, because I haven’t seen him carried out yet,’” (Lee, 43). The only reason the townspeople think Boo Radley might be alive is because they don’t have any proof that he’s