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Character Analysis Of Boo Radley In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

586 Words3 Pages

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. After three years, Scout learns to have patience when trying to reach out to someone and not judge others due to insubstantial rumors. She also understands what Atticus means by viewing another’s perspective. In an attempt to learn about Boo, Scout follows Jem and Dill impatiently as they try to bring Boo out of his house. Having never seen Boo, they do anything they could to just have a glimpse of him so they could learn about him. Overtime, Scout realizes that they are just disrupting Boo, and decides to stop trying to lure him outside. She almost completely forgets about Boo, until he saves both her and Jem from Mr. Ewell who was attacking them. When Scout first saw Boo, she teared up, since she only fantasized about that very moment. Curiosity struck Scout and her …show more content…

Some say his hands were bloodstained as he ate squirrels and cats. He was also said to have eaten one of her mother’s fingers when he could not find any. However, Scout believes Boo is just a misunderstood friend. Her naive innocence, helps Scout have the will to give him a chance. When Boo leaves anonymous gifts for Scout and Jem, Jem gives a warning about how an item from the Radley place could kill them. However, Scout believes that they were left in the tree for them specifically. As Scout meets Boo in the flesh after what he does to save her from Mr. Ewell, she begins to see Boo by his heroic actions rather than the rumors. Boo finally has a friend who sees him as something other than a

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689 Words | 3 Pages

When Dill arrives, Scout’s interest in things gets stronger as Dill has a curiosity even greater than hers. She especially desires to know more about the Radley house and the stories that surround Boo Radley, who is supposed to be a cruel character. Dill also immediately has the same longing once he learns about Boo Radley, and together along with Jem they try to figure out what really goes on in the Radley house. Another example of Scout’s curiosity is when she hears about Tom Robinson. She comes to his trial and stays through it even though she is not allowed to know the events that occurred to make Tom accused of the crime and the ending verdict.

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830 Words | 4 Pages

In To Kill a Mockingbird there were many characters who were misjudged such as Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and even Calpernia but the character who was most misjudged was Boo (Arthur) Radley because of the incident that he had with his father as a child, which was when people started viewing him as a monster when in reality he wasn’t. Flash back several years before Scout and Jem were even born, Boo Radley liked to hang out with the Cunningham's, who weren't the best group to hang around with, but he did. They ended up doing some not so good stuff, they were charged for " disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female." So right there people started

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1013 Words | 5 Pages

Boo’s hand came up, but he let it drop to his side... His hand came down lightly on Jem’s hair” (Lee 372). Scout describes Boo as he is reaching down to touch Jem. Boo’s innocence leads him to question whether or not he should ‘pet’ Jem. In the end, he decides to be courageous and stroke Jem’s

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865 Words | 4 Pages

In the last few chapters, Scout finally saw the real Boo, and he saved her and Jem from Bob Ewell. Boo is transformed from a monster into a human being. He appeared as a hero at the last minute. This makes Scout feels very guilty in her mind that she had never done anything to him. She thought innocently, “We never put back into the tree what we took out of it; we had given him nothing, and it made me sad” (373).

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1430 Words | 6 Pages

The townspeople thought Boo was an evil man who caused trouble around the neighborhood because of his past experiences as a child. Boo opens up to Jem and Scout throughout the novel and they see he is really a lonely, caring man in need of a friend. Boo was known as the towns troublemaker and had a bad reputation, many people were scared of him. " Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom people said he existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People say he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped and windows.

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951 Words | 4 Pages

When Jem and Scout were coming home from the pageant and were attacked by Mr.Ewell, Boo rescues them and kills Bob Ewell in the process. Scout appreciates his actions because Boo saves her brother. When Atticus discusses turning Boo in, Scout says, “Well, it’d be sort of like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?” (Lee 370). Boo makes the right decision by saving Scout and Jem and he does not mean to cause any harm.

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499 Words | 2 Pages

Many of the townsfolk viewed him as an evil or mean spirited person. An instance of him being a mockingbird is first seen when Boo begins to put things in the hole of a tree for Jem and Scout to have until it gets filled with cement (44-45). Another example is when Boo puts a blanket around Scout while she is watching the fire at Miss Maudie's house and Scout does not even notice (94-95). The last and biggest act takes place while Scout and Jem are walking home from the play and they are attacked by Bob Ewell. Then to save them Boo stabs Bob

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740 Words | 3 Pages

Through small gifts left in a tree’s knothole, Scout and Jem soon realized that Boo cares about them. Boo’s connection to the children becomes unbreakable when he saves them from their attacker on Halloween night. Scout then can see that Boo is not six-and-a half-feet tall, does not have a long jagged scar that ran across his face, and does not look like he regularly dined on squirrels. After the attack, Boo Radley ensured that

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627 Words | 3 Pages

Moreover, Scout learns that is very important that she shouldn’t judge people too quickly, when she meets Boo Radley. Before she met him, Scout believed all the rumors that people said about them. “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall...hands were bloodstained…long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten…” (Lee 14) these rumors led to her thinking Boo was a monster. However, at the end of the book when Scout meets Boo, he is nothing like the character she was led to believe.

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1076 Words | 5 Pages

For Jem and Scout, there innocence comes from not being exposed to the world yet because of their age, but Boo Radley has a different kind of innocence. He finds himself uncomfortable around the people and unsure of how to behave when brought to the Finch house. Boo can be sometimes childlike as well, hiding small treasures in the tree in his house for the children, or when he asks Scout to take him home. Scout links their arms in a way that makes it look like Boo decided to help her to his house, not the other way around. After being alone for so long, Boo appears hesitant about everything, and unsure how to

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573 Words | 3 Pages

Scout accepts that her childhood images of Boo were most likely false, and she gains a different perspective on Boo. Furthermore, when Scout hears that Tom Robinson has been killed, she states that she “found [herself] shaking and couldn’t stop. [She] had seen Enfield Prison Farm, and Atticus had pointed out the exercise yard to [her]” (Lee 317). Scout is exposed to the real horrors of the world,

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525 Words | 3 Pages

Courage is the ability to do something that frightens one. It is one of the recurring and essential themes shown throughout Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Three characters in particular demonstrate their courage and bravery multiple times throughout the story. Most of the characters could be described as courageous and brave, but these three stand out the most. These bold, fearless and valiant characters are Atticus Finch, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose.

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751 Words | 4 Pages

When comparing How To Read Literature Like A Professor and To Kill A Mockingbird, many’s first thoughts lead to symbolism. As Thomas C. Foster wrote much of How to Read Literature Like A Professor about symbolism, To Kill A Mockingbird is one huge symbol, including the title itself. By that, I mean that the mockingbird is the overall universal face of this timeless novel, portraying innocence. This theme of innocence is made evident in many instances in the novel by making many characters into that same mockingbird in a way, including the dog, Boo Radley, and Mrs. Dubose herself. However, this theme also includes the innocence of that mockingbird being stolen.

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1339 Words | 6 Pages

If not for the major characters, the minor characters have played an equally important role in Maycomb with their contrasting views. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is mainly about Jem and Scout growing up under the difficult situations created in Alabama during The Great Depression. Stereotypes and discrimination are major problems in Maycomb. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by Atticus, with the help of Calpurnia, their maid. In the first part of the book, Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley because of the rumors they hear about him, and they try everything to make him come out of his house.

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892 Words | 4 Pages

They also learn that the reason Boo Radley’s hands are bloodstained are because he eats any squirrels or cats he finds. Jem also describes him as a horrific scary monster, but these are only based on facts that Stephanie Crawford has told them and the town. Jem and Scout are curious with these tales as they try to get Boo out of house, so they can see how he looks like.

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