Rumors In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

Rumor, a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth. In the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Boo Radley, a mysterious and unknown character is often the center of these rumors. Rumors that are almost always false. Harper Lee develops this theme “not all the rumors you hear are true”, in the scene at the end of the book where Scout and Boo were talking and Scout walked Boo home. After walking Boo home Scout comes home and has a discussion with her father, Atticus, after reading a book. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee develops the theme “not all the rumors you hear are true” through irony, pathos and point of view. To begin, Harper Lee uses irony to develop the theme, “not all the rumors you hear are

When Scout and Boo were on the front porch, Boo was holding Scout’s hand tightly “and he had no sign of letting go.” (pg 372). He then asks Scout “ Will you take me home? “ (pg 372). Irony is represented to develop the theme, “not all the rumors you hear are true”, because not too long ago, Scout wouldn’t even be talking to Boo let alone hold his hand and walk him home. This was because of the rumors around town that Boo was an eerie and devilish child. Because of these rumors it made Scout not want to be associated with Boo even though now, she is very close to him, which is ironic. Later when Scout had gotten home, she read a book with Atticus. While reading the book she talked to Atticus about it and asked about the character and “...why he hadn’t done any of those things...Atticus, he was real nice.” (pg 376). While describing this character from the

For instance, when Jem had been unconscious and was laying down, Boo was staring with “ An expression of timid curiosity was on his face, as though he had never seen a boy before. His mouth was slightly open, and he looked at Jem from head to foot. Boo’s hand came up, but he let it drop to his side.” (pg 372). Scout then says that Boo can pet him and “Boo’s hand hovered over Jem’s head. ‘Go on, sir, he’s asleep.” His hand came down lightly on Jem’s head.” (pg 372). Instead of being wacky and disturbing like the town imagines Boo to be, Boo is shown to be compassionate and tender because he is petting Jem. In this scene pathos is used to develop the theme, “not all rumours you hear are true”, because Harper Lee evokes the reader’s compassion and good-nature of Boo which is not like what the people of Maycomb had said he was like. When walking home after dropping Boo home, Scout had a thought to herself about her neighbor Boo and it was about how neighbors bring each other gifts and how “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls,a broken watch and chain, a pair of a good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.” (pg 373). As Scout recollects her memories from those times, she