I am reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The book is about children growing up in the south and the pressure of race in the 1930’s. Scout is the little girl in the story, her older brother is named Jem and their best friend’s name is Dill. The kids have a secretive neighbor named Boo Radley who they are frightened of. The kids have a lot to learn about the truth in their little town. In this journal I will be predicting and evaluating.
G- Kids won’t meet Boo
Y- Locked up
R- The doors of the house were closed on all weekdays and Sunday and Boo wasn’t seen for 15 years
R- Jem and Scout have never seen Boo
R- Boo was locked in the courthouse basement as punishment
Y- Scared
R- Jem’s description of Boo
R- Jem thinks Boo will kill them
Even the name gives me a fright. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a character that terrifies the kids in the neighborhood. I predict that the kids will never meet Boo Radley because he never comes out of his house. He is practically a prisoner to the walls of his house, and in my opinion, will never meet the children that torment him. He is locked up inside his house, and the doors are always locked on weekdays, and even Sundays. Boo has not been seen for fifteen years, and some people in the town think he is dead. This helps my theory of the children never meeting Boo, because if he has not been seen for so long, then why would he suddenly appear. Another reason that proves that Boo is always locked up is that Jem and Scout have never even seen Boo. For all they know, Boo Radley could just be a made up story by someone in the town. How can the children meet someone that may not even be real? They cannot. The last reason that backs up my theory is Boo once stabbed his father with a pair of scissors, and was locked in the courthouse basement as punishment. His father knew his son was not a criminal, so he insisted that his son was not charged with anything. Boo was eventually sent back to his house, or else he probably would have died from the mold. Boo is close to insane, and will most likely never meet the children, because he is almost always locked away somewhere. The kids in the neighborhood are all scared of Boo. There are many reasons why they
When Burris went to school, his teacher, Miss Caroline, screamed because of the critters living in his hair, but Burris did not even flinch. He just went along casually as he squashed the life out of the bug that was eating off of him. Only filthy human beings can handle having bugs constantly in their hair. Burris definitely does not have good hygeine. The last reason that proves that the Ewell’s live like animals is that they live on the outskirts of town, which is pretty much a dump. They live where people dump garbage and the items they do not want. The family rarely knows where their next meal is coming from, and don’t live cleanly. These reasons prove that the family lives like animals. The Ewell’s often break the rules of the town. One reason that proves this is that the kids only go to school once a year. The kids of the Ewell family only go to the first day of school to make sure the law gets carried out. The sheriff has even given up on trying to hold them to go to more school. The family bends the rules so the kids don’t have to go to more school. Another reason that proves that they bend the rules is that their dad hunts out of season. The government does not try picking a fight with Mr. Ewell, so they don’t push hard on hunting out of season. Even Scout knows that this is a bad rule to break, but the Ewell’s have lots of freedom to do what they please. The last reason that they break the rules is that their dad gets
That in turn, ruins any. hope he has a normal life. However, Boo stays out of sight for many. years and his only communication with anyone other than his family for many years when he left gifts for Jem and Scout in the tree outside. his house.
They have never actually seen or talked to him, and yet they are still children and believe most of the things they hear. The stories about Boo eating cats and squirrels are enough to scare them out of their shoes. The children love to play the game they made called “Boo Radley” which always ends with someone getting “stabbed” in the leg, just as Boo Radley stabbed his father’s leg. In part two, on the other hand, Jem and Scout stop playing their game and stop telling the stories because it no longer entertains or scares them. If they had not matured, these games and stories would still frighten them.
I am reading, “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. In the first three chapters Jem and his younger sister Scout meet Dill, who stays over at his Aunt’s house in the summer. Dill becomes fascinated with the Finches neighbor; also know as the town creep Boo Radley. He is so interested in Boo because he allegedly killed his father and ever since never comes outside. In this journal, I will be predicting that the kids will not meet Boo.
But Boo tends to be a misunderstood character, just like the mockingbird. In chapter 28, when Jem and Scout were walking back home from school, they took the shortcut which happened to be pitch black. Jem heard a sound which alerted them. At first Jem thought it was Cecil Jacobs (a boy who liked to pull jokes on Jem and Scout), but then they realized it was someone else. They heard footsteps running after them to find that it was a grown man. Jem called out to Scout to run but she fell due to her costume.When Scout finally got back up to find Jem, the man squeezed her until she could barely breathe. Worriedly, Scout called out for Jem but didn’t get a response. She saw two men underneath the tree besides Jem and herself. She called out “Atticus?” but there was no answer once again. She noticed a man laying the ground that had the awful essence of booze, she got up and made her way over the road, and within the light of the street lamp Scout sees a man carrying Jem. The man headed towards the Finch house, where Atticus let him in. Scout eventually realized that “the man” was no other than Mr. Arthur or commonly referred to as Boo Radley. Mr. Arthur, despite his poor perception of
As the story progresses, Boo becomes more of a symbol of kindness and bravery than that of the "town freak" which he is made out to be. Boo leaves presents for the children in the hollow trunk of an old tree, as well as covers Scout with a blanket during Miss Maudie's fire. However, it is not until he saves Jem and Scout's life from the hands of the deranged Mr. Ewell, that Boo shows his true heroic character. Even though Boo is a physically weaker man, he shows no fear when it comes to protecting Jem and Scout's life.
Early in the story Boo was just the subject of talk and myths but we learn more about him soon after.
In the case of Scout and Jem, they believed that Boo Radley, who is an outcast of Maycomb, possesses a horrific appearance, and that he is a savage, "he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained." However, as the story progresses, it is revealed that Boo is actually a kind-hearted person who has not done anybody wrong, but unfortunately, he was ruined by the hands of his family. Thus, Boo is an example of a mockingbird, as mentioned by Atticus. The disclosing of the character of Boo demonstrates Scout and Jem's loss of innocence. They can no longer see Boo as a mysterious threat in their life, instead they saw Boo as a person. "...he's crazy..but Atticus I swear to God he ain't ever harmed us, he coulda cut my throat...but he mend my pants instead..." In a way, Boo serves as a symbol of the transition of Scout and Jem's maturity, as the kids exhibit their ability to empathize with
After his father died, his brother moved in with him. While Boo was locked up inside is house, the people of Maycomb County made up stories about him. The legend of Boo Radley was well-known to the people of Maycomb. Jem describes 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. 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.”
In the start of the story nobody saw or heard from Boo; all they knew was the stories they had been told about how horrible he was. As Scout recalled “nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr.Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight, but Jem figured that Mr.Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time”(11). As time went on, Arthur seemed less as a monster and more as a whisper of a man. After Miss Maudie’s house caught fire, Atticus revealed to Scout that “[Scout was] so busy looking at the fire [Scout] didn’t know it when [Boo] put the blanket on around [her]”(72). To Scout that was horrifying, but it proved that he wasn't some monstrous person. Society didn’t recognize this until Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout. As Scout stated “Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good luck pennies, and our lives”(278). She and everyone else knew then that he was no ghost; he was a
“Dill sighed a long sigh and turned away from me.” “Maybe he has nowhere to run off to….” (Lee 144).This quote shows that the kids now realize that Boo has nowhere to run off to. So if he did leave he would have nowhere to go. People don't like him because of what he did in his past.
Boo Radley is first introduced as a mysterious monster-like man that doesn’t leave his house, but the truth is later revealed. Boo’s backstory was one of a misunderstood teen that hung around the wrong crowd d out the truth with a strict father. Boo was preyed upon by a couple of boys that led him to get into trouble and then seen as a creepy shameful man although he was just a harmless mentally ill person. Boo was very reclusive and possibly autistic. This explains why his father was so protective, also why he was very shy never left his house because he could be socially awkward. Boo’s possible undiagnosed autism and lack of knowledge of mental illness
Boo Radley, also known as Arthur Radley, is the scary, evil creature that lives in the creepy old house down the street from Jem and Scout, and is misjudged at first. Jem and Scout, two main characters, first see Boo as some sort of scary monster. Jem described him in the first chapter as “...six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks...” and said “...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...” Jem also mentioned Boo had 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.” Scout and Jem also call Boo a “...malevolent phantom...” As if that isn't bad enough, the kids hear and tell horrible stories about Boo. One is of how he stabbed his dad with a pair of scissors; another tells how he was locked up in the courthouse basement. Even with such a grisly initial perception at the beginning of...
He is very afraid of the many people in Maycomb. He does not want to leave the house Boo is scared of the people to judge him of what he did like when he was known to kill Bob Ewell. Boo is afraid of these people in judging him of what parents judged of what he did as a kid and grounds him for so long that he cant get out of the house. His parents were strict about it in whch that can make him lonely. Jem said “.he wants to stay inside” which he is talking about Boo Radley that he is so lonely that he does not want to go outside with the people his loneliness is not strong enough to seek friendship even after he saved the children from Bob Ewell that he stil cant make friends.
Throughout the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee likes to foreshadow the character's traits such as Boo Radley. Even though Atticus’ children, Jem and Scout, believe in the superstitions about him, they get a glimpse of his character through specific parts of the book. The children realize that Boo Radley is not a bad individual at all, he actually cares about them. Since he shows so much care for the children, the reader is not surprised when Boo Radley “saves” the children at the end of the novel.
Think you know Boo Radley? Not many people do. Boo Radley is a shy, mysterious character from Harper Lee’s: To Kill a Mockingbird. Throughout the book, Boo is thought of as a monster within the book’s setting of Maycomb County. He’s also known to be mentally ill and violent due to many stories about his past. However, I believe he’s just misunderstood. Boo Radley is actually a caring and courageous human being. Examples that benefit this idea include: Boo Radley giving gifts to Scout and Jem and saving Scout and Jem from Bob Ewell. Furthermore, throughout To Kill a Mockingbird; Boo Radley is shown to be misunderstood, caring, and courageous.