Boo Radley Character Analysis Essay

Different people hold different perspectives on certain aspects of life. When growing up, one’s perspectives can often change and develop. This idea of changing perspectives is evident in a significant passage in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee when Scout is met face to face with Boo Radley for the first time (372). Her interactions with Boo in the passage, specifically walking him home, force Scout to see from his eyes and to see him for who he really is. This is an eye opening experience for Scout, as Boo Radley is a completely different person from what she initially perceived him to be. The passage reveals Boo’s unexpected, but heroic actions which certainly overcome Scout’s prior fear of Boo. Through the use of multiple different

Scout, at first, views Boo as a monstrous man as she imagined his, “bloody fangs” when walking by his house (64). Boo is continuously labeled as someone who is dangerous and can possibly harm others especially with the mention of bloody fangs. He is an unexpected character to even come out of his house for the good of others. Boo Radley is built up to be a lethal character, which is why it is ironic he was the one who saved Scout and Jem from Mr.Ewell at the end of the novel (370). Because this scene happened near Boo’s house, it could have even been predicted that Boo Radley was the killer, or perhaps Atticus saved them instead. However, Boo’s unpredicted actions show that Scout held inaccurate views of Boo and his true intentions. The situational irony is pushed even further when Scout recalled, “if Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching [...] she would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentleman would do”(373). Scout brings in Stephanie Crawford, because she too held false perceptions of Boo through her rumors. When Boo Radley is acting as a gentleman, he is breaking all the rumors that were held by Maycomb and surprising not only the readers, but Scout as well. Through this irony, it is demonstrated that people are often misunderstood when others don’t take the time to learn about that person and their

The passage proves through literary elements, that overcoming this fear is an important part of seeing other’s perspectives and coming of age. It was only once Scout, from To Kill a Mockingbird overcame her misleading fear of Boo Radley, did she understand Boo’s perspective. By standing in his shoes, Scout saw the neighborhood from his eyes, and realized how much of a connection Boo had with her and Jem, just by watching them, whether they knew it or not. This shows that seeing another’s perspective can be a difficult task, but in doing so, one matures and grows as a person. Through this lesson, readers can learn that seeing someone else’s view on life can heal misunderstanding about that