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To Kill A Mockingbird Boo Radley Transformation

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The character of Boo Radley in "To Kill a Mockingbird" is one of the most intriguing and enigmatic characters in all of literature. Initially, he is portrayed as a reclusive and almost mythical figure, feared and reviled by the citizens of Maycomb. However, as the story progresses, we see a gradual transformation in Boo's character, and by the end of the novel, he emerges as a true hero. In this essay, we will explore how Boo Radley advances from an alleged monster to a hero, and what this transformation represents.

It is important to understand the context in which Boo Radley is introduced in the novel. The first time we hear about him is in Chapter 1, when Scout and Jem are trying to catch a glimpse of him through his window. From the beginning, Boo is portrayed as a mysterious and frightening figure, who is said to have committed various atrocities in the past like that of eating stray cats and any squirrels he could get his hands on. The citizens of Maycomb believe that he is a monster who should be avoided at all costs, and this perception is reinforced by the fact that Boo never comes out of his house. …show more content…

For example, when Jem loses his pants while trying to escape from the Radley house, he returns to find them mended and neatly folded on the fence the next day. This suggests that Boo has been watching over the children, and is perhaps not as malevolent as he is made out to be. Later on, when Bob Ewell brutally attacks Jem and Scout, it is Boo who comes to their rescue, killing Bob Ewell in the process. This act of heroism is the culmination of Boo's transformation from a feared monster to a beloved

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Boo was sentenced from an early age to be a “monster” of sorts due to his past dealings with the law and his time spent in solitary confinement. This story that is invented by the people of Maycomb alters Boo Radley’s true appearance greatly, deeming him to be something he is

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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.

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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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Despite his reclusive nature, Boo's actions throughout the novel reveal his inherent kindness and innocence. He leaves gifts for the Finch children, mends Jem's pants, and ultimately saves their lives in the novel's climactic showdown with Bob Ewell. Yet, despite his altruism, Boo remains an outcast in the eyes of Maycomb society, feared and ostracized due to his eccentricities and the rumors surrounding his family.

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After getting in trouble for typical rebellious adolescent behavior, Boo Radley has rarely been seen outside of his house. The mystery surrounding him makes others in the town intrigued about the “malevolent phantom” that “went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows” (Lee 10-11). Due to a combination of children’s imaginations and the variety of rumors spread throughout the town, people assumed Boo Radley was “about six-and-a-half feet tall” with “a long jagged scar that ran across his face” and “what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time” (Lee 16). The people of Maycomb were not accustomed to people who differed from them in any way and any minor difference could make them an outcast. When “The shutters and doors of the Radley house were closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb’s ways”, it was recognized as unusual and it further enhanced the beliefs that Boo Radley was a ‘monster’.

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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.

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For the entirety of the novel, Boo chose to be a recluse, staying in his house. Boo had always been looking out for Scout and Jem, whether it was when he sewed up Jem’s pants for him, or when he was giving them gifts through the knot in the treehole. When Bob Ewell attacked and tried to kill Jem and Scout, Boo was the person there to protect them. Boo Radley is a mockingbird because he only does things for the benefit of Scout and Jem. When talking about what happened to Ewell, Heck Tate says, “‘...taking the one man [Boo] who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight-to me, that’s a sin”[370].

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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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