Do you remember stories of the boogeyman from childhood? Well for the kids of Maycomb they have their own sort of boogeyman, he goes by the name of Boo Radley. Not only is he the source of nightmares for the kids of Maycomb, but a source of fascination for every reader. Boo Radley is the most interesting character so far because of all the folklore about him, his motivation for hiding out, and the children's fascination with him. “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. 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.” (Lee 10) Although we do not know if this description is accurate, we know it is a great attention grabber. This is one of the things that draws me to Boo Radley. The townsfolk have this crazy idea of what Boo may or may not be. Who Boo really is and what he is, we know not but we certainly want to. …show more content…
Of course I don't believe he poisoned the nuts, if anything it was probably just an allergic reaction but still, I wonder what makes Boo hideout? What makes Boo allow for these rumors to even be spread in the first place? We all just crave knowing what is going on in Boo Radley's head and what makes him allow himself to be the monster of children's
In chapter 1 on page 14 Jem describes what Boo looks like. “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half-feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained-if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. ”(14) Because of what all of Jems neighbors are telling him, Jem gets a fearful image of Boo, and Jem tells Dill about the Radley’s and says that ”...if Dill wanted to get himself killed, all he had to do was go up knock on the front door. ”(14) Also the way the Radley’s house looks makes you and the characters get a horrific emotion about Boo.
There is a strange story that Boo was sitting in the living room, and when his parents came in the room he stabbed scissors into their leg. When the police showed up, Mrs. Radley was sitting in the living room perfectly fine. It was also told that at night Boo would be seen peering into the windows of his neighbors houses. Boo was so well known that if a negro was walking down the street, they would cross the street and under no circumstance walk past the house on the same side of the road. Boo was also part of a gang.
A drooling, scarred, yellow toothed ghost of a man or an isolated, kind, and miss understood gentleman? Arthur “Boo” Radley Jr.’s character in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird is an interesting figure. The events of the story, from the Finch children’s daily doings to Miss Maudie’s house fire to Tom Robinson’s trial, are all witnessed by Boo from inside the Radley house. Although Boo lives a concealed life, we see that he exhibits a caring and isolated nature that’s important to the story.
Though he is an honest, hardworking man he is black, and a white woman claimed he raped her. In this time period a white person's word was always taken over a black person's word and though he had not been convicted yet he was still feared. Finally, both Boo and Tom were accused of deeds they had not done. For instance, Boo Radley has had many rumour spread about him even though he comes from a family of fine folks. Though the Radley’s socioeconomic status, Boo was still disrespected, and was the and was the prey of many gossips such as Miss
He mainly experiences prejudice due to gossip and rumors which go around about him throughout the town. At the beginning of the book Jem and Scout were educating their friend named Dill about their mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley, Jem proceeds to give a description… "Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained. "(page 13) The exaggerated stories describe Boo Radley as a violent individual. Due to the running rumors about him is seen as an outcast in society and is rarely seen outside of his house.
Jem also believes that Boo eats raw animals and has yellow teeth. These false accusations have left Boo Radley with eyes constantly on him and always being the gossip of the town, when the poor man does nothing. Boo stays inside the house due to this gossip, never coming out. Although the Book never came out of the house, from his house he could see the whole town. He could see all the bad of this town and what was going on.
To Kill a Mockingbird Essay Plan Thesis: The three main protagonists of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (Scout, Jem, and Dill) both learn and demonstrate empathy through the story. Directional Statement: The characters demonstrate empathy to Boo Radley both after the trial and after Scout walks him back home, and they learn about empathy during Tom Robinson's testimony. Body Paragraph 1: Point: Jem demonstrates empathy towards Boo Radley after Tom Robinson is convicted of raping a white woman. Proof: Right after the trial, and Tom Robinson has been convicted of raping Mayella Ewell, Jem starts to understand why Boo Radley doesn't come out of his house: "I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up in the house all the time...
Many characters throughout To Kill A Mockingbird were abused and traumatized. Harper Lee included abuse as one of the main themes in her book To Kill A Mockingbird. Boo Radley, Mayella Ewell, and Dill were all abused in different ways. Abuse happens a lot in our society, but isn’t talked about much. Abuse has a lasting impact on every person that it happens too.
Did I scare you? Well Boo Radley sure scared Jem and Scout. The rumors they collected about him we're plenty. “ Jim gave a reasonable description of Boo : Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined off of raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were blood stained – if you ate an animal raw , you would never wash you could never wash their blood off…”(13). According to scout, Jem's sister, Boo was one creepy man who ate animals alive!
Is Boo Radley Linked to Jeff the Killer? Though the two stories have major contrasts, the urban legends of Boo Radley. and Jeff the Killer, hold many resembling factors. Throughout the novel of To Kill A Mockingbird one of the main characters is Boo Radley , a creepy neighbor in Maybcomb County that most of the entire town fears.
Appearance VS. Reality In the novel To Kill a MockingBird written by Harper Lee there are many events that occur that show the theme of appearance vs Reality. Throughout the story Boo radley is looked at as a monster that hides in his house and scares children. Mrs.Dubose is an old lady who had a morphine addiction and Tom robinson is known for sexualy abuseing a young white woman.
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
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.
Any small crimes in Maycomb were assumed by the people to be the reckoning of Boo. Once people suspected Boo of mutilating people’s chickens and household pets. Even after Crazy Addie came forth to confess, many people were unwilling to give up their suspicions. Furthermore, people have always tried to stay a safe distance away from the Radley’s house.
In the book, To Kill A Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee shows that we shouldn’t be too quick to judge another person’s character based on outward appearance and the stories and rumors we have heard. The character Boo Radley is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t be hasty to judge. On the outside, Boo looks like a scary neighbor that lives just a few houses away. “.....he had sickly white hands that had never seen the sun. His face was as white as his hands…..”