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What Does Boo Radley Represent In To Kill A Mockingbird

502 Words3 Pages

I have two questions. Who is placing the items in the tree and who are the items meant for? I think that Nathan Radley or Boo Radley are placing the items in the knothole. First, I think it could be Nathan because the person putting the items in the tree had to be an adult. No children go by the tree except for Scout and Jem because the tree is by the Radley house and all of the other kids are scared of the Radleys. Also because Mr. Radley said that he needed to put cement in the hole. This was very suspicious to the kids because Nathan said that he had to put cement in the tree because the tree was dying. When Jem and Scout asked Atticus if the tree looked like it was dying Atticus said the tree looked healthy. This made the children wonder …show more content…

The kids are still questioning whether or not Boo is alive. These items could symbolize that he is alive. Boo could have also put the items in the tree to scare the kids. He could have just wanted to mess with Jem and Scout. Or he could have wanted to send out a kind gesture to the children. What if Boo was actually nice and he wanted Jem and Scout to know that he was a nice person. The kids think of Boo Radley as a mean person with a lousy past but what if he was actually friendly? Who where the items meant for? There were three items placed in the tree. First, there were two pieces of gum. Gum was not very common back then so finding gum and chewing it was a treat. There were also two pennies. These pennies were brand new so having these were a big deal also. There was also something that was left that was not as great as the other two items. It was soap carvings of two children that appeared to be Jem and Scout. This freaked them out especially Scout because they still had no idea who was putting the items in the hole. I believe that these three items mean something. In the book it says that the Indian Head pennies symbolize

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673 Words | 3 Pages

Nathan Radley could be hiding something from the kids that he doesn’t want them to know. Scout was upset when they figured out that the knothole was plugged, and as a good brother. As Jem is, he told her “Don’t you cry, now, Scout… don’t cry.” The quote shows that the tree was very important to Jem and Scout because of the gifts and them sending the letter trying to communicate to Boo Radley. If the tree was not plugged with cement, Jem and Scout would eventually sent the letter to whom that were sending the gifts.

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1300 Words | 6 Pages

The gum in the tree is just like him, Scout chews it first to see if it’s not poisonous which it’s not then Jem later on makes Scout spit it out showing how he doesn’t trust it. In the end it turns out the Gum is not poisonous and it was just Boo Radley trying to make contact with the kids. Coins in ring

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826 Words | 4 Pages

At that moment is where Scout met Boo Radley which put a blanket on her when she was staring at the house as it burned down in front of everybody’s eyes. The items found in the hole in the tree started to make a distant relationship between Boo and Scout, which started the children to make Boo Radley the hero of their game instead of the villain. After chapter 8 of the novel, Boo becomes the children’s watchful protector, and being there whenever they need him. For example providing a blanket for Scout and saving Jem at the end of the story.

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614 Words | 3 Pages

This is why Jem and Scout think that it is Boo radley who is putting the items in the tree. Another item that Jem and Scout find is a tarnished medal in the tree. This is to be a spelling bee medal Boo had won. This is important because this was probably won during his youth and shows that he actually did good in school and was a little more

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1168 Words | 5 Pages

Scout later realizes that he is not mean and that he is generous. Boo finds ways to treat the kids in many different ways. He is a very kind man towards Scout and Jem. Boo would leave gifts for the kids in a hollowed out tree. When Ms. Maudie’s house started on fire he put a blanket around Scout.

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586 Words | 3 Pages

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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547 Words | 3 Pages

When Jem and Scout visit the knothill by the Radley tree, they discover "gifts" like pennies and simple tokens left by Boo Radley. They quickly realize this when Jem says that he suspects that Boo Radley is giving them gifts. “Jem looked around, reached up, and gingerly pocketed two pieces of chewing gum. He grinned at me, too.

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842 Words | 4 Pages

Scout would take the little things that were left inside the Radley place tree. There were many things that had been found inside the tree. There was a little piece of gum, a watch, also two soap dolls that had been hand crafted and looked just like Jem and Scout. One major way Scout was insensitive to Authers was for a huge part of one summer the children acted out being the Radley’s. Scout knew at first how insensitive it was.

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713 Words | 3 Pages

Jem later finds out that Nathan Radley had filled up the hole with cement and said “Trees dying”. You plug ‘em with cement when they’re sick.” Jem finds out later that the tree isn’t sick and that the hole was filled with cement so that Boo Radley stops putting gifts inside the tree, which makes him and Scout very sad. Later in the story, there was a pageant where Scout had to dress up as ham and show up on the stage but she fell asleep and ruined it. When Jem and Scout were walking home, Jem heard noises behind them and when they stopped, the noise also stopped.

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822 Words | 4 Pages

•Some evidence that Jem is beginning to understand more than Scout about Boo Radley was when Jem infers that the things that they found in the tree are ways to communicate for Boo Radley, since he couldn't get out of the house. He understands enough that it was Boo Radley sending them the gifts that he proposed a letter of thanks to him, but was prevented from doing so. Jem then waits on the porch, trying to piece the clues together, and when he talked to Nathan Radley, Mr. Radley said that he clogged up the tree, saying that it was dying and he needed to put cement in it. However, the tree was alive and healthy, which made Jem suspicious of his statement. •Does Jem still fear the gifts in the tree?

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236 Words | 1 Pages

The tree in “To Kill a Mockingbird” symbolizes how much Boo wants to be connected to Jem and Scout. He wants to make them his friends but is kind of the socially awkward type who doesn’t know how to make friends. Boo puts in different items in the tree that express him, and that symbolizes him as a person. He is getting more and more socially involved. them

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185 Words | 1 Pages

Trees, not only have deep roots, also grow high and tall. In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, the tree by the Radley’s House, constructs a deep meaning of how Boo reaches out to the children. Having an inadequate reputation around the whole community, Boo believes that to be noticeable to others, he should stretch out towards Scout and Jem. Through-out the novel, Boo Radley offering gifts in the knothole, represents his desire to be kind to the children. Offering gum, the Indian Head Pennies, and soap carvings, it symbolizes the strength of Boo’s growing fondness and bond with the kids.

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1007 Words | 5 Pages

When we went in the house I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him” (Lee 71). Jem receives presents in the hole inside the tree and then Nathan Radley cements it which helps Jem learn that Nathan Radley is cutting the connections of Boo Radley with the outside world. After this experience, Jem finally sees Boo Radley as a real person which leads him to lose his innocence. Therefore, Jem is able to attain knowledge because of the experiences he has with Nathan and Boo Radley. Despite Jem and Scout indicating that

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401 Words | 2 Pages

In the middle of the novel, Scout is a critical thinker. Scout begins to think about Boo as a person. As the book progresses, Scout realizes that although the fact that Boo Radley stays in his house is strange, it does not have a major affect on his attitude and acts of kindness. From the presents in the tree to putting the blanket on them during the fire Boo Radley is constantly reminding and hinting at his existence. Scout realizes that she shouldn’t believe everything she hears and should think for herself; instead of going with what everyone else is saying.

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706 Words | 3 Pages

She’s surprised that Boo, who they thought of as a mysterious, and scary man, can be so compassionate and protective over Scout and Jem, even though they never met Boo. “He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back in the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing and it made me sad.” (373) Scout regrets not giving Boo anything in return after him saving their lives and they are all eternally grateful for Arthur Radley.

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