The Kids' Notion of Boo Radley

How does the kids' notion of Boo Radley develop from the beginning of

the novel to the end?

"Boo was about six and a half feet tall … 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."

At the beginning of the novel, Boo is to the children mainly what they

have heard as neighborhood rumors and interpreted in their own

imaginations. The Radley place is shrouded in an aura of mystery and

creepiness for them; they are scared to even run past the house, nuts

from the Radley trees are considered poison, and when Jem retrieves

the tire from the Radley yard, it is considered an extremely brave

feat. Thus at this stage, the only relationship the children have with

Boo is that of fear and intrigue.

But slowly, almost unconsciously, the children begin to want to know

more about Boo Radley, and are not just satisfied by rumors and

gossip, a sign of maturity. Initially, it is Dill who wants to lure

Boo out of the house, so that he "can see what he looks like." This

shows that the children are no longer willing to depend upon what they

have heard, and want to find out for themselves what Boo is really

like. They try sending notes to Boo, through a fishing pole, asking

him to come out and have a talk; later they sneak into the Radleys'

yard, hoping to look through a window and catch a glimpse of Boo so

that they can actually see what he looks like. Later, Scout's talk

with Miss Maudie and the manner in which she asks whether all the

rumours about Boo or true, implies that she does not depend on

neighbourhood gossip anymore. Furthermore Miss Maudie confirms that

Boo is not a terrible phantom: rather a normal human who is...

... middle of paper ...

...She is able to see him as a harmless,

childlike nervous person, and the courteous manner in which she

attends to him, shows that she now regards him as a real person. Upon

escorting him home, sees the world through his eyes, and realizes that

Boo Radley has been living the life denied to him through the

children. Thus finally Boo Radley becomes a real person, completing

his progression from monster to human.

The children's changing attitude towards Boo Radley is an important

way of gauging their development from innocence to an adult outlook on

life. Initially, in all their childhood innocence, they believed

street gossip, but as they began maturing, they wanted to find out for

themselves what was true. Scout's ability to look from Boo Radley's

viewpoint is the ultimate point of her growing up, as she is able to

understand what Boo is really all about.