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Neighbors In Harper Lee's 'To Kill A Mockingbird'

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Neighbors do give in return -- in both subtle and obvious ways. To Kill A Mockingbird is a coming-of-age novel by Harper Lee that tells the story of Jean-Louise “Scout” Finch’s experience with a neighbor phantom, Arthur “Boo” Radley. That first summer she is six. She and her brother, Jem, meet Dill, who arouses their interest in Boo. As time progresses, their curiosity grows and feeds on the rumors that other neighbors spread about him. The Finch children quickly realize the trinkets, which they presume to be gifts from Boo, that appear in a tree near the lugubrious Radley place and keeps them. The children and the man builds a peculiar and complementary relationship, where he provides them with an unusual way to be entertained. However, child-Scout …show more content…

Afterwards, she confesses that “Through all the head-shaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the sidewalk. Someone inside the house was laughing” (Chapter 4). Boo’s family imprisons him in the Radley place because of a past incident. It can be inferred that because of this, he is an incredibly isolated person with little contact with the outside world. Accordingly, The children’s newfound interest in him is a step towards his liberation from his confinement. They are eager to discover the truth about him rather than solely relying on all the rumors. As a result, Boo continues to interact with them and slowly unmasks his true …show more content…

In the process of the children's expeditious escape after Nathan Radley opened fires on them, Jem’s pants tore on the fence. Jem divulged, “‘When I went back for my breeches—they were all in a tangle when I was gettin‘ out of ’em, I couldn’t get ‘em loose. When I went back—’ Jem took a deep breath. ‘When I went back, they were folded across the fence... like they were expectin’ me’”(Chapter 8). At the sight of intruders, Nathan Radley decided to blindly discharge; thus proving his insane desire to keep Boo away from outside influence. Still, this is a breakthrough both literally and metaphorically. Jem physically succeeded in attaining access into the Radley place. Furthermore, he assisted Boo, yet again, to enact another part of his escape plan. Despite Mr. Radley’s efforts, Boo still approached Jem’s torn pants and predicted that he would come back for them, which verifies his humaneness and further justifies that he has been closely observing the

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691 Words | 3 Pages

Boo’s innocence is abused as a result of mistakes he made in his past. Even though he tries to subtly help others so he can gain their trust, they still think he is untrustworthy. When Jem is trying to slip under the Radley fence, his pants get stuck, so he leaves them there. Boo knows that Jem will come back and get his pants, so he quickly mends them. Boo wants to help, not hurt Jem.

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149 Words | 1 Pages

In the beginning of the book, Jem has a prejudice against Arthur/Boo Radley. Jem and his friend Dill, would make up stories about Boo eating cats, stabbing people with scissors and being a “monster” even though they have never met him before. In chapter 7, Jem goes into Arthur Radley’s backyard to spy on him, but then losses his pants. When he goes back later to retrieve his breeches, they are folded over the fence. Jem thinks that Boo left them for him because they were sewn together “all crooked.”

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660 Words | 3 Pages

On page 62-63, Jem states, “That’s why i'm going after em.” When Jem goes back to the Radley house to retrieve his pants, he sees his pants sewn and folded nicely next to the fence. Jem has always been afraid of Boo Radley. The first time that he went to the Radley house, Scout and Dill went to the house with him. When Jem went to go retrieve

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991 Words | 4 Pages

Boo Radley. Boo is an older man, “about six and a half feet tall,” (13) that lives down the street from Jem and Scout. He is constantly locked up inside his house because of an incident when he, “ drove the scissors into his parent’s leg,” (11) causing him to be locked up in the basement of the courthouse. Lee portrays Boo to be a scary psycho character but everyone has their own opinions and stories about him. When Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire and sent smoke everywhere, “Smoke was rolling off our house,” (70) it was Boo Radley who gave Jem and Scout a blanket, “Yes ma’am, blanket.

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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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759 Words | 4 Pages

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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445 Words | 2 Pages

He had been being judged all of these years because of his youthful pranks. Boo and his friends had even stole a car and locked the county officer in the courthouse outhouse. It was even said that Boo had stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors. Boo’s father still keeps him at home as he wants to keep the family’s name clean. These stories, instead of scaring the kids, interests them and makes it all the more desiring to try and get him out from that house.

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549 Words | 3 Pages

Boo is “mentally challenged”. This handicap keeps him from being able to read, write speak properly. This handicap forces him to live with his emotionally abusive parents. This handicap makes him even more “different” than other men in society. Him hiding away makes people think he’s evil and scary.

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621 Words | 3 Pages

The heat was devastating and many people decided to not go outside. Jem and I, however, ignored Atticus ' warnings about the heat, and left to go to see Dill. We passed by the Radley house, no longer afraid of Boo, after all, he had saved our lives. I could still clearly remembering the events of that day, but when I brought up the topic with Jem, he would ignore me, and change the subject. “Jem?”

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1028 Words | 5 Pages

To the children, so much as entering the front yard of the Radley house is a terrifying feat. At this time, the children do not understand Boo’s situation, as they have yet to meet him and know little about him apart from the stories. In the end, the children learn that Boo has been watching them all along and has even been a helpful presence in their lives. He was the one who left gifts in the tree outside the Radley yard for Scout and Jem, and he gave Scout a blanket during the fire. More importantly, however, Boo was the mysterious figure who saved the Finch children from Bob Ewell’s attack.

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1088 Words | 5 Pages

When Jem goes to retrieve his pants from the Radley house, “they were folded across the fence… like they were expectin' me” (66). Boo Radley sewing and folding Jem’s pants demonstrates his care for Jem. Him knowing that Jem will come back to retrieve the pants relays his knowledge of the kids and how he wants to help them. After the fire at Miss. Maudie’s, Scout is told that Boo Radley gave her a blanket “Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.”(81). He pushes past his fear of leaving his house so that Scout would not be cold, and he did so knowing he would not receive recognition for it.

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1630 Words | 7 Pages

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a historical fiction novel told in the eyes of a young girl named Scout  as her father, Atticus Finch , a lawyer in the 1950’s in  Alabama, is burdened with the task of defending a black man, Tom Robinson, of harming a white girl, Mayella Ewell. “Caged Bird”

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751 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, the children befriend Boo Radley, since he is a shut in and many children of the neighborhood are quite curious as to what he does inside all of the time. Boo and Scout came specifically close, him giving her a blanket when Maudie Atkinson’s house burned down and at the climax point when he makes his initial known physical appearance as he saves Scout and Jem when Bob Ewell attacks them. After the Tom Robinson trial, Jem and Scout are finally starting to see from his perspective as 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.

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872 Words | 4 Pages

‘Dill gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out’ p.9 This has already been mentioned back in the section about how Jem broke his arm. Two mentions in the first chapter seem to indicate that this is important. Who is Boo Radley? Where do they want him to come out from?

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407 Words | 2 Pages

For years, people have been debating whether cheerleading is a sport or not. On the year 2016, the debate has come to an end when The International Olympic Committee declared to be cheerleading as an official sport. Cheerleading is a well-known sport around the world especially in the Philippines. The word “sport” has no definite meaning.

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