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To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

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Boo

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Extended Character Analysis

Reclusive and mysterious, Arthur "Boo" Radley is an important figure in the children’s lives. He has remained shut in his house while rumors about him have swirled around town for years. Scout, Jem, and Dill are captivated by the aura of danger and mystery surrounding Boo and eventually create the Boo Radley game in which they reenact what they believe to be his life story. Though the children are initially terrified of Boo, they begin to see him in a different light when he starts leaving them small gifts in the knothole of a tree on the Radley property. Miss Maudie eventually reveals that Boo was never an evil person but merely someone who has been greatly affected by his strict and overbearing family. At the end of the novel, it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. Through their interactions with Boo, the children learn that they must challenge prejudice by approaching others with compassion. In the end, Scout realizes that Boo is a “mockingbird,” an innocent and well-meaning person who has been unjustly hurt by the world around him.

Quotes

  • “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. 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.”
  • “ ‘To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an’ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on my head. If it was any other man, it’d be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch.’ ”
  • “He was still leaning against the wall. He had been leaning against the wall when I came into the room, his arms down and across his chest. As I pointed he brought his arms down and pressed the palms of his hands agains the wall. They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem’s room. . . . His face was as white as his hands, but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. . . . As I gazed at him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears.”
  • “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between. Boo was our neighbor. 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 into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad.”
  • “A boy trudged down the sidewalk dragging a fishing pole behind him. A man stood waiting with his hands on his hips. Summertime, and his children played in the front yard with their friend, enacting a strange little drama of their own invention. It was fall, and his children fought on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dubose's. . . . Fall, and his children trotted to and fro around the corner, the day's woes and triumphs on their faces. They stopped at an oak tree, delighted, puzzled, apprehensive. Winter, and his children shivered at the front gate, silhouetted against a blazing house. Winter, and a man walked into the street, dropped his glasses, and shot a dog. Summer, and he watched his children's heart break. Autumn again, and Boo's children needed him. Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.”

Expert Q&A

Did Boo Radley's harsh upbringing by his cruel father lead to his emotional damage and insecurity in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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Arthur "Boo" Radley grew up in a strict household and was under the constant supervision of his cruel father after he had a minor run-in with the law as an adolescent. According to Miss Maudie, Arthur "Boo" Radley was always a nice child, who was polite and respectful whenever she spoke to him. After getting into trouble with the Cunningham boys, Boo's authoritative father prohibited from leaving the house and Boo Radley remained indoors for the majority of his life. It is implied that Boo Radley was a typical child, who was not mentally disabled as an adolescent. While nobody can say for certain what means of intimidation or violence Mr. Radley utilized to keep his son from leaving the house, it certainly damaged Boo emotionally and mentally.

As the story progresses, Scout and Jem discover that Boo is a compassionate, generous man, who gives them gifts and offers them protection when they need it the most. Following Bob Ewell's attack, Scout finally meets Boo Radley face-to-face and he is depicted as a childlike, shy adult, who speaks softly and requests that Scout walk him home. Boo Radley's demeanor at the end of the novel indicates that he has been emotionally and mentally scarred after suffering unknown forms of abuse at the hands of his cruel father and brother. Judging from Miss Maudie's comments and Boo's benevolent nature, one can surmise that he experienced a significant amount of trauma while he was locked in his own house. The mysteries surrounding Boo's life behind the doors of his home highlight his enigmatic nature and contribute to his characterization as a symbolic mockingbird.

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What happened during the scissors incident between Boo Radley and his father in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Quick answer:

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the incident involving Boo Radley and his father with a pair of scissors was a matter of speculation and gossip. Some believe Boo stabbed his father due to his domineering and potentially abusive nature. However, others, like Miss Maudie, doubt the incident's truth and emphasize the Radleys' right to privacy. The incident, whether true or not, highlights the novel's theme of not judging people unfairly.

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It may also be useful to keep in mind that the scissors incident was speculation - it is mentioned in the novel that nobody was certain if it actually happened, like most of the other Radley stories. In fact, one neighbor, Miss Maudie I believe, voiced her opinion that it wasn't true at all. Then again, she was a firm supporter of the Radley's and their right to privacy and to not be the center of the gossip circles. Miss Maudie reminds the reader that people should not be judged unfairly - just one theme of the novel.

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Although Boo's father "saved" him from juvenille detention, Boo's sentence was far greater than it would have been had he simply served his time. Boo did stab his father with the scissors. His father was domineering (and there are suggestions that he was emotionally abusive). Boo stabbed him because he was angry. As to how effective it was--who knows. It got him temporarily removed from the house, but he was locked in the courthouse basement instead. Mr. Radley eventually took him back, and one can only assume that life in the Radley house continued much as it had before the incident. Boo was thirty three at the time of the scissor episode, and already mentally crippled for life.

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How does Harper Lee create mystery about Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Quick answer:

Harper Lee creates mystery about Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird by keeping him distant from the reader, depicting him through second-hand accounts filled with exaggerations and gossip. Boo is described as a reclusive, monstrous figure by Jem, which contrasts with Miss Maudie's more rational view. His mysterious nature is heightened by his reclusive behavior, eerie house, and the children's attempts to glimpse him, reinforcing the theme of prejudice and misinformation.

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Harper Lee creates a sense of mystery surrounding Boo Radley by elaborating on the ominous atmosphere around his home, describing the rumors concerning Boo Radley, and never physically depicting Boo until the end of the novel. Much of the information regarding Boo comes from secondhand sources, which distances his character and adds to the mystery surrounding him. Towards the beginning of the novel, Scout describes the dilapidated Radley home, which has a foreboding atmosphere. It is described as a slate-gray decaying home, and its doors are never opened. The Radley family is also portrayed as abnormal and enigmatic. They rarely interact with their neighbors and hardly leave their home. Much of the information the reader receives about Boo towards the beginning of the novel comes from the rumors Jem hears. Jem believes that Boo is a malevolent creature and the members of the community blame every small crime on Boo. Every neighborhood child fears Boo, and Miss Stephanie tells Jem that Boo once stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors.

The fact that Boo is a reclusive individual further emphasizes the sense of mystery surrounding his character. In chapter 5, Miss Maudie admits to Scout that she is unaware of what goes on behind the Radley doors. Despite the evidence that suggests Boo is a compassionate, kind neighbor, Scout's naive perception of Boo and lack of physical interactions with him add to the sense of mystery surrounding his character. Overall, Harper Lee creates a sense of mystery about Boo's character by describing the rumors surrounding him and his family while never fully presenting a detailed description of Boo Radley. The majority of information regarding Boo comes from secondhand sources, which adds to his enigmatic nature.

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The most important technique she uses is that Boo Radley is never seen until the end of the novel. That allows the reader and the children to fantasize all kinds of things about him. We do get a few glimpses of him through his actions, which makes him even more mysterious. The presents he leaves Jem and Scout in the tree indicate he is watching them. The laughter they hear when they talk about him suggest he is either amused or deranged.When Jem is forced to leave his pants and then discovers they have been mended when he retrieves them, all suggest Boo is more caring than the image the children have of him. But when Nathan Radley cements the hole in the tree so Boo cannot leave any more presents for the children, we wonder what Nathan is hiding from us. All of these events create a sense of mystery about Boo so that when he does show up, the audience, as well as Scout, is surprised and touched by his ultimate kindness.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, why is Boo Radley mysterious?

Boo Radley is mysterious because no one knows much about him. He has been hiding in the Radley house since he was an adolescent. This was a result of a troubled childhood and possibly, an abusive father. Jem speculates that Boo chose to stay locked up in the house because the people of Maycomb would not accept him. When Boo becomes a recluse, rumors are formed about him and this adds to the speculation and mystery of Boo Radley.

He is mysterious because no one has taken the time to know him, let alone think about things from his perspective. This is one of the main themes of the novel: walking in other people’s shoes. When Scout takes Boo home, she sees the street from his porch for the first time. She literally sees the world from his perspective. Atticus’ line is repeated in the last chapter: “you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes.”

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How does Harper Lee portray Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Over the course of To Kill a Mockingbird, Boo Radley is transformed from a bloodthirsty ghoul who feasts on raw animals and peeps in windows to the most heroic and sympathetic character in the novel. Most readers would question the gossip that has been spread (by "three-fourths colored folks and one-fourth Stephanie Crawford," according to Miss Maudie) through Scout's narration, and Boo's run-in with the law and the unusual punishment he receives from his father creates sympathy for Boo even in the early chapters. Although Scout and Jem don't seem to immediately realize from where the gifts in the secret knothole come, the reader is able to recognize that they could only have come from Boo; the reader sees before the children that Boo is trying to befriend them, and that these treasures signify that Boo is a caring and inquisitive--though mysterious and completely invisible--neighbor. After Miss Maudie's house fire, when Boo's presentation of the blanket upon Scout's shoulders finally opens the Finch children's eyes completely, the children give him the privacy that Atticus has always told them Boo deserves, and Boo fades into the background of the story as the trial of Tom Robinson unfolds. But Scout still fantasizes about meeting Boo, and author Harper Lee beautifully synthesizes the two plots together in the final chapters, with Boo making his inevitable appearance just in the nick of time for Jem and Scout. Scout's fantasy comes alive when she finally sees Boo lurking in the shadows of Jem's bedroom and politely leads him to the porch where she sits with him on the swing. When Boo whispers to Scout that he wants to go home, she leads her hero back to his house--a young lady leading her gentleman caller--never to be seen again. It is a fitting ending for Boo, who has successfully protected "his children": His job complete, and with Bob Ewell dead, the children no longer need him to watch over them.

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How does Harper Lee use language to create fear and mystery about Boo Radley?

Scout's first mention of Boo's house in chapter one is with the words "The Radley Place," this does not connote feelings of a home, let alone a house. It is a "place."  Scout goes on to describe it as once white but now "the color of the slate-gray yard around it."  The shingles are rotted and tall oak trees block out sunlight.  

Additionally, Scout's first words to describe Boo (an ominous nickname, since he is actually named Arthur) are "a malevolent phantom."  There is town mythology surrounding Boo; "any stealthy small crimes" are attributed to him, including the mutilation of animals, and, improbably, people's azaleas freezing as a result of his breathing on them.  Children in the school yard adjacent to the Radley Place would not eat pecans that dropped from Radley's trees, because "Radley pecans would kill you."

The Radleys do not socialize with the other citizens of Maycomb, something Scout describes as "alien to" the town's culture.  It is said that Boo Radley had attacked his father with scissors, and it is rumored that Mr. Radley keeps Boo "chained to the bed most of the time."  It is also rumored that Boo comes out "when it's pitch dark," a belief furthered by Jem based on a claim that Boo peeped in the window of Miss Crawford.

Jem offers a "reasonable description of Boo," despite never having seen him, as, 

About six-and-a-half feet tall. . . he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch. . . with bloodstained hands, a long jagged scar that ran across his face. . . teeth. . . yellow and rotten. . . he drooled most of the time.

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What are five personality traits of Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Quick answer:

Five personality traits that describe Boo Radley are reclusive, caring, damaged, observant, and courageous.

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How about shy, enigmatic, misunderstood, thoughtful, and brave?  Boo is shy because he hides in his home to escape what is sure to be curious (at best) and evil (at worst) torments about his condition.  Ironically, curious children (such as Scout, Jem, and Dill) are the ones who coax Boo out into the real world.  Boo is enigmatic because no one really knows why Boo acts the way he does.  Every strange and horrible activity that Boo participates in is hearsay:  eating domesticated animals, stabbing folks with scissors, and being a general "monster."  It turns out, of course, that Boo is simply misunderstood, never having been given an outlet for his true personality of thoughtfulness and bravery.  Boo begins to prove himself as thoughtful when he leaves gifts for the children.  His thoughtfulness doesn't end there, however.  Boo also fixes Jem's pants, helps keep Scout warm by the fire, and most importantly saves the children from being murdered by Bob Ewell.  It is that last element of thoughtfulness that meanders into the characteristic of bravery.  Anyone would have to be brave to stand up someone like Bob Ewell.  Boo Radley became a brave man at that moment.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, what are Boo Radley's physical and personality traits?

It depends on where in the book you want to reference. If you want to reference the kids' stories and the town gossip, Boo is a mean man, over 6 feet tall. His hands are blood-stained from eating raw squirrels and cats. His eyes bug out and he drools all the time. Anything on the Radley lot is poisonous and Boo's breath causes the unexpected frost that may come upon plants at night. Boo is a thing of legend, gossip and town lore.

By the end of the novel, the true personality of Boo is revealed. He is a kind man--he leaves gifts for Jem and Scout in the tree, puts a blanket on Scout the night MIss Maudie's house burns down, and save their lives from Bob Ewell. Boo may also be seen as a bit lonely. He looks just like a regular man, though a bit more pale and skinny. He is shy and quiet and doesn't like to be the center of attention.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, what are Boo Radley's character traits in the opening chapters?

At the beginning of To Kill a Mockingbird, the most predominant character trait of Boo Radley is that he is mysterious. Much of what the audience learns about him (directly) is from gossip, here-say, and the opinions of the main characters, who are children and who have almost glorified Boo into a monster of sorts out of boredom.

However, there are several personality traits that can be inferred by using indirect characterization. It is true that Boo Radley is a character who keeps to himself. This is evidenced by the fact that the children have never seen him. "Nobody knew what form of intimidation Mr. Radley employed to keep Boo out of sight" (11) but this fact keeps the children guessing at his physical appearance.

It can also be inferred that Boo Radley has an innocent interest in the children. This is evidenced by the gifts he leaves in the knot hole in the tree in chapter 7. The soap carvings of the boy and girl who resemble Scout and Jem are almost like a peace offering showing that he is not a monster. The children's opinion of him begin to change.

Finally, it can be inferred that Boo Radley is not only interested in the children, but watching out for them as well. On the night when Jem, Scout, and Dill sneak into the Radley's back yard and Jem loses his pants, he goes back for them only to find them neatly folded and sewn up "not like a lady sewed 'em" (58). Jem knows before anyone else that Boo Radley is seeking a method to communicate with them, and though he remains a character surrounded by mystery, it seems clear that he is not harmful.

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What are Boo Radley's traits in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Arthur "Boo" Radley is depicted as a reclusive, compassionate man who remains inside his dilapidated home against his will and eventually rescues Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell toward the end of the novel. At the beginning of the story, Scout recalls the rumors surrounding Boo Radley's adolescence and mentions that he got into trouble while hanging out with the Cunningham boys. Unfortunately, Boo Radley and the Cunningham boys were arrested for harassing a town constable, and Boo's severe father proceeded to lock him inside the house as punishment. Given Boo's willingness to participate in risky pranks with the Cunningham boys, one could argue that he was an impressionable, immature adolescent.

As the story progresses, Boo Radley attempts to communicate with the Finch children by leaving them small gifts in the knothole of the oak tree. Boo's gifts and attempt to form a friendship with the Finch children portray him as a kind, benevolent neighbor. Unfortunately, Nathan Radley pours cement in the knothole to prevent him from communicating with Jem and Scout. The fact that Boo cannot express himself or challenge his brother depicts him as a timid, powerless individual. Despite Boo's lack of independence and unfortunate home life, he demonstrates selflessness and courage by defending the children against Bob Ewell. Boo Radley protects the Finch children and ends up killing Bob Ewell using a kitchen knife. However, Boo Radley relies on Sheriff Tate to protect him from the community's limelight, which portrays him as a defenseless, vulnerable character. Overall, Boo Radley is a symbolic mockingbird who is innocent, benevolent, and defenseless.

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Why, according to neighborhood legend in To Kill a Mockingbird, does Boo Radley become a recluse?

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Young Arthur Radley's troubles start when, as a teen, he begins to run around with the wrong crowd--specifically, "some of the Cunninghams from Old Sarum." One night while cruising Maycomb in a borrowed "flivver"--an old Model-T Ford--the boys harrass a town official and lock him in the courthouse outhouse. The boys are later charged with various crimes, including disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery and "using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female." All of the boys but Arthur were sent to the state industrial school, but the elder Radley refused to allow his son to be incarcerated. Mr. Radley promised the judge that he would see that his son behaved, and "Mr. Radley's boy was not seen again for fifteen years." Young Arthur was forced into reclusiveness by his strict father, and he earned his moniker "Boo" because of the gossip and tales that followed his unusual existence in the Radley house.

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Why is Boo Radley considered an outsider in Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird?

There are several reasons that Boo is considered an outsider--and the town's most talked-about citizen. First, Maycomb is a small town where everyone knows everyone, and the Radleys never quite fit in.

The Radleys, welcome anywhere in town, kept to themselves, a predilection unforgivable in Maycomb.  (Chapter 1)

The family worshipped in their own home instead of embracing the social aspects of church; they rarely socialized with anyone (old Mr. Radley always failed to respond to Jem's and Scout's greetings); and they kept their 

... shutters and doors... closed on Sundays, another thing alien to Maycomb's ways.  (Chapter 1)

The family was already outcasts before Arthur Jr.'s troubles, but when he was restricted by his father's unusual form of house arrest within the Radley House walls, the town made "Boo" its favorite subject of gossip. When both Mr. and Mrs. Radley died and Boo did not come out--instead, being looked after by his brother, Nathan--the gossip only increased. In Maycomb, people gathered in front yards and porches to discuss the day's events, but Nathan kept to himself and Boo was never seen. Boo was accused--unfairly and without substantiation--of

Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb... People still looked at the Radley Place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions.  (Chapter 1)

Boo was seen but once in nearly two decades--after he was again incarcerated for stabbing his father's leg with a pair of scissors--and he again retreated into the seclusion of the family home, never to be seen until he reappeared on Halloween night to rescue Jem and Scout. Boo's status as Maycomb's leading outcast was solidified by his parents' prior actions; his own run-ins with the law; and the fact that he was never seen, even though everyone in town knew he was still alive since, as Miss Maudie told Scout,

"I know he's alive, Jean Louise, because I haven't seen him carried out yet."  (Chapter 5)

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Why doesn't Boo come out in To Kill a Mockingbird? Was he being abused?

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Boo doesn't come out because he doesn't want to come out. His life experience tells him that the world is a scary, hard place. He was also shut inside by his father after a violent incident. His father is now dead, but his older brother is still domineering.

When he is around people, Boo is nervous and awkward. Scout says:

Every move he made was uncertain, as if he were not sure his hands and feet could make proper contact with the things he touched. He coughed his dreadful raling cough, and was so shaken he had to sit down again. His hand searched for his hip pocket, and he pulled out a handkerchief. He coughed into it, then he wiped his forehead.

A lot of Boo's fear comes from his family dynamics. His family is isolated and unusual. They don't spend time with their neighbors, and they don't open their doors to the community on Sundays. Growing up in such a way shaped Boo's impressions of the world. It likely didn't help that Boo stabbed his father and was locked in the courthouse basement as a result. This probably also helped to make him afraid of the world.

Whether Boo's father did something to provoke him is left for the reader to decide; Calpurnia does call him the meanest man alive, though she doesn't say specifically why. Scout notes that it's strange for Calpurnia to comment on what a white person like Mr. Radley does.

Whether or not the neighbors should have intervened is more of an opinion than a fact. However, it would have been kind for them to have helped Boo out, especially when he was younger and less capable of doing so himself. Even though it seems like Maycomb is a friendly place, no one was ever able to help Boo have a better life.

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Aside from liking the kids or appreciating Atticus' defense of Tom, why else did Boo Radley save Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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Although Scout and Jem had never seen Boo Radley, Boo had certainly been keeping a watch on them. Some of the neighborhood rumors about Boo were probably true: He did occasionally creep around at night, since he had made contact with the children before the assault by Bob Ewell (placing the blanket on Scout's shoulders and by mending Jem's lost pants). Boo had initiated the leaving of gifts in the knothole, and he watched them from within the Radley house as the children rolled the tire and played their Boo Radley game on the sidewalk.

Boo was the children's neighbor, friend and protector--Jem and Scout were "his children," too--although it took Scout a long time to recognize this. On that fateful Halloween night, Boo may have seen the children leave alone and unescorted, and decided to keep an eye on them. Boo may or may not have even known about the Tom Robinson trial or Bob's threats against Atticus, but then again, Boo was one surprising fellow. 

     Boo was our neighbor...
     Summer, and he watched his children's heart break. Autumn again, and Boo's children needed him.  (Chapter 31)
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What textual evidence shows Boo Radley as misunderstood in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Quick answer:

Textual evidence of Boo Radley being misunderstood would include the unsubstantiated rumor that he once attacked his father with a pair of scissors. This rumor is put about by Maycomb's resident town gossip, Miss Stephanie Crawford. Apparently, Boo was cutting out some newspaper articles to put in his scrapbook one day when his dad walked into the room. For no apparent reason, Boo supposedly stabbed him in the leg with the scissors he was using.

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The story about Boo and the scissors is just one of the many urban myths that's clung to him over the years. There's no actual evidence that Boo really did stab his father in the leg, but because no one really knows anything about this strange, reclusive young man, people are ready to believe the story anyway. The lack of any definite information about Boo allows the good folk of Maycomb to fill up the gaps in their knowledge about him with hearsay, gossip, and urban legend.

The biggest gossip in town is Miss Stephanie Crawford. She seems to be the main mover behind the scissors story:

According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the living-room cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities.

Miss Stephanie's never happy unless she's saying bad things about people behind their backs; and as Boo's not able to defend himself, this neighborhood scold feels free to say whatever she likes about him.

As there's no alternative source of information about Boo, the Finch children have no reason to doubt the veracity of the many urban legends that have arisen about him. They unthinkingly go along with them, blissfully unaware that they're contributing to the demonization of one of life's true mockingbirds. Thankfully, they will later come to see a different side to Arthur Radley, the true, caring side. But for now they completely misunderstand him, seeing him as nothing more than a scary boogie-man figure.

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Arthur "Boo" Radley's troubles began when he was a teenager and began running around with the "wrong crowd"--the Cunninghams from Old Sarum. He was arrested for disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, assault and battery and "using abusive and profane language in the presence and hearing of a female." The charges were somewhat exaggerated, since the group's actions were little more than a boyish prank, but the whole group was sentenced to the state industrial school. Arthur's father would not allow young Boo to go, and he convinced the judge to release Boo into his custody. Boo was confined to the Radley house and "Mr. Radley's boy was not seen again for 15 years.

Boo apparently had no say in the matter, and he must have deteriorated--mentally and physically--greatly during his lengthy home confinement. When he was next heard from again, it was because he had stabbed his father with a pair of scissors. This time, Boo was locked in the basement of the courthouse--"The sheriff hadn't the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes"--until his father took Boo back home again. 

Nearly all of the rumors about Boo had no basis in fact and no witnesses to support them. His purported peeping in windows at night, slaughtering pets and animals, and poisoning pecans were all unfounded. Instead, Jem and Scout discovered that he was a man in need of young friends, even if he wasn't willing to leave his house to meet them. Jem and Scout eventually recognized that the gifts in the secret knothole of the Radley oak were from Boo, and that he meant no harm. The children decided to respect his privacy, and they hounded him no more.

No one knew just how closely Boo watched the Finch children, but he was there when they needed him on the night of the Halloween pageant. After he saved their lives, killing Bob Ewell in the process, Scout understood that he was a neighbor who had not received acts of kindness in return. Scout recognized Boo's plight and his true feelings when she stood on his porch in the final chapter, gazing upon the neighborhood and seeing the events of the past two years through Boo's eyes. What he must have seen was not much different from what Scout remembered--summetime, children playing, colorful azaleas, a burning house, a shot dog.

Atticus was right. One time he said you really never knew a person until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them. Just standing on the Radley porch was enough.

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Why is it fitting that Arthur "Boo" Radley saves Jem and Scout at the end?

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There is also a significance in the children facing and overcoming their fear in Boo, and  their realisation that blind ignorance masks reality. Boo is no longer a squirrel-eating monster but a compassionate, honourable human being. In reading the novel, there is the hope that as a result of the text the readers could face and overcome the fear of difference and realise the blind ignorance that is racial prejudice. 

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With respect to what has been remarked upon so perceptively, there is, indeed, a reciprocal growth as both Boo Radley and Scout and Jem have "climbed into [each other's] skin and walked around in it."  With Boo's emergence as a human being, also, Scout becomes more humane, thus giving reinforcement to Harper Lee's key theme, and proving clearly that it is "a sin to kill a mockingbird" as Sheriff Tate determines that Bob Ewell "fell on his knife."

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I think it's fitting because in a way, they have saved him.  Boo had been walled up in that house for years, feeling like he wasn't even human.  But gradually, he became interested in the kids and their doings.  As he watched them and (sort of) interacted with them, he became more human.  In that way, they saved him, or at least helped him save himself.

Because of that, it is fitting that he should (literally) save them at the end of the book.

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Boo Radley has always been the protector of the children of To Kill a Mockingbird. Even when Jem and Scout feared him as the ghoul of the neighborhood, Boo attempted to befriend them with gifts in the secret knothole. When Jem lost his pants in the Radley's barbed-wire fence, it was Boo who mended and folded them. On the night of the fire, it was Boo who stealthily wrapped the blanket around the unknowing Scout to warm her. Unbeknownst to the children, Boo was always keeping an eye on them, and when he discovered Bob Ewell stalking them on the fateful Halloween night, Boo saved their lives. It provided the only opportunity for Boo to make an actual appearance in the novel, concluding the author's brilliant character sketch of one of American literature's most mysterious heroes.

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Boo represents the mystery of childhood.  By the end of the book, the children have experienced so much that they have basically grown up.  Therefore, when they learn the truth about Boo Radley a final chapter of their childhood closes.  They learn that he is not scary or evil, but rather shy and sickly.

It is fitting that Boo saves Scout becomes the story comes full circle.  At the beginning of the book, Boo Radley is a mysterious but malevolent force in the children's lives.  As time goes on, he becomes less and less frightening to them and they become just curious.  They start to see that his is a sad story, and he might just be lonely or shy.  They realize there is more to Boo Radley.

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Why did Boo Radley carve soap-dolls resembling Jem and Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Quick answer:

Boo Radley carves soap-dolls resembling Jem and Scout as a way to befriend them. Despite being a mysterious and secluded figure, Boo observes the children and creates these gifts as personal tokens of acknowledgment and connection, indicating his desire for friendship and gratitude for their presence.

Boo Radley is a mysterious character in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. The Radleys live next door to the Finches, Jem and Scout, and they are a very private family. The town is full of speculation about the Radley's son, Boo, because anything that is a little mysterious is material for gossip in Maycomb.

Jem and Scout (and Dill, of course) have fabricated all kinds of stories about Boo, though they really know nothing about him. They regularly enact plays and dare one another to do things at the Radleys. Once Scout hears someone laughing quietly when she gets just a little too close to the Radley house, and once Jem sees (or thinks he sees) a curtain part in one of the windows. We also know that Boo is the one who sewed Jem's pants and brings Scout a blanket on the night of the fire. 

"Two live oaks stood at the edge of the Radley lot; their roots reached out into the sideroad and made it bumpy." One day on the way home from school, Scout's attention is drawn to the knot in one of the trees and she discovers two sticks of gum wrapped in their silver foil. She grabs it and takes it to her front porch.

The gum looked fresh. I sniffed it and it smelled all right. I licked it and waited for a while. When I did not die I crammed it into my mouth: Wrigley’s Double-Mint.

When he gets home, Jem scolds her and makes her spit it out because, of course, everyone knows that everything on the Radley place is poisonous. This is only the first gift which Boo Radley is obviously leaving for his two neighbor children. Over time, they discover more gifts. Next is a small ring-box covered with bits of tinfoil from chewing gum; inside are two shiny Indian-head pennies. Then comes a ball of twine which they leave for several days to make sure no one is simply storing things in the tree knot. When no one claims the twine, Scout says, "From then on, we considered everything we found in the knot-hole our property."

The next item they find is the soap dolls.

Jem and I were trotting in our orbit one mild October afternoon when our knot-hole stopped us again. Something white was inside this time. Jem let me do the honors: I pulled out two small images carved in soap. One was the figure of a boy, the other wore a crude dress. Before I remembered that there was no such thing as hoo-dooing [voodoo], I shrieked and threw them down. Jem snatched them up.

“What’s the matter with you?” he yelled. He rubbed the figures free of red dust. “These are good,” he said. “I’ve never seen any these good.” He held them down to me. They were almost perfect miniatures of two children. The boy had on shorts, and a shock of soapy hair fell to his eyebrows. I looked up at Jem. A point of straight brown hair kicked downwards from his part. I had never noticed it before. Jem looked from the girl-doll to me. The girl-doll wore bangs. So did I.

Two things are clear from this particular gift: Boo Radley's gifts have been intended specifically for Jem and Scout and he has been watching them (and probably all of their shenanigans) enough to be able to reproduce their likenesses in these soap carvings. While there is no explicit explanation for Boo Radley's placing these items in the tree, it is evident that he is doing what he can to befriend Jem and Scout, perhaps even repaying them for being so entertaining. 

Several more gifts appear, but one day the children discover the hole has been filled with cement by Nathan Radley. 

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Although Boo Radley does know the children make fun of him (so does most of Maycomb), he places these gifts in the tree as a friendly gesture. We don't really know what and how much Boo understands, but he is generous with the children and winds up saving their lives, so he was well aware of the potential danger with Mr. Ewell, and therefore did worry about them like he was their guardian.

Like Tom Robinson, Boo is a generous person who keeps to himself and means no harm to anyone. When Mr. Radley fills up the hole with cement, this is similar to sealing up Boo in the Radley house. There is nothing wrong with Boo. He is misunderstood and mistreated by his father. It was that kind of mental abuse that first affected Boo and it was the town's reaction that made Boo want to stay away from everyone. Atticus is very objective and open-minded. It is probably not a mistake that Boo chose his children to reach out to since they would be the most likely to be open-minded and friendly as well.

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In To Kill a Mockingbird, why did Boo Radley put soap dolls in the tree?

Boo Radley left the soap dolls in the tree for Scout and Jem to find in order to reach out to them in friendship.

Boo Radley was the neighborhood recluse.  All of the children were afraid of him, and all of the adults pitied him.  Scout, Jem, and Dill were fascinated with him, and it was Dill who came up with the idea of trying make him come out.  The children engaged in many different plans over the summer to accomplish this.  They never had much direct contact with him, but they made an impression.

Boo Radley obviously began to feel a connection with the children.  He demonstrated it to them by leaving them presents in the knothole of a tree on the corner of his property.  The children did not know who the gifts were for, or what the point of leaving them there was, until they found the soap dolls.

I pulled out two small images carved in soap. One was the figure of a boy, the other wore a crude dress. Before I remembered that there was no such thing as hoo-dooing, I shrieked and threw them down. (Ch. 7)

Pennies, twine, and gum could have been there for any reason.  However, the soap dolls look specifically like Scout and Jem.  This is why Scout is frightened by them.  She thinks they are something like voodoo dolls, designed to hurt them.  Although Boo did not intend to frighten the children, making them look like Scout and Jem was a clear sign he wanted them to know the gifts were intended for them.

It took a great amount of skill to make the carvings.  Jem points out that they are the best he’s ever seen.  By carving the children’s likeness in soap and giving it to them, Boo is trying to reach out and communicate with the children in the only way he knows how.  He is too shy to talk to them directly.  He is showing them he likes them as friends.

As Scout gets older, she also gets wiser and more empathetic.  She comes to see things from Boo’s point of view rather than be afraid of him.

I sometimes felt a twinge of remorse … at ever having taken part in what must have been sheer torment to Arthur Radley—what reasonable recluse wants children peeping through his shutters, delivering greetings on the end of a fishingpole, wandering in his collards at night? And yet I remembered. Two Indian-head pennies, chewing gum, soap dolls, a rusty medal, a broken watch and chain. (Ch. 26)

At the end of the book, Boo Radley does come out—when Scout and Jem’s lives are threatened.  He saves them by killing Bob Ewell, and then takes them home.  Scout realizes that he is a sensitive and timid man, and also a good friend.

Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. … We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad. (Ch. 31)

Standing on the Radley porch, Scout sees things from Boo’s point of view.  She reviews the events of her childhood from his perspective.  She knows that he cares about them, and she cares about him.

The interactions with Boo Radley demonstrate Scout and Jem’s transition from child to young adult.  They go from viewing Boo as a boogey man to realizing that he is a sad, lonely man who just wants a friend.  Since none of the adults in Maycomb understand him, he reaches out to children who show him kindness.

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Why is Scout certain that Boo Radley is watching them? When and how does Lee foreshadow this revelation?

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At the beginning of Chapter 4, Scout finds chewing gum in the knothole of the Radley tree. Later on, she and Jem discover a pair of Indian-head pennies in the same spot. These two events foreshadow Scout's revelation that Boo Radley is still alive and lives inside the house. As the chapter continues, Jem rolls Scout in a tire down the street, and she accidentally crashes into the Radley porch. Scout gets up in a daze and Jem runs inside the Radley fence to grab the tire. After the children drink their lemonade and take a break from playing, Jem says they're going to a play a new game called "Boo Radley." At first, Scout decides she's not going to play and mentions that Boo can get out at night and harm them. Jem claims that Boo Radley has been dead for years and was stuffed up a chimney. Scout says,

"I was fairly sure Boo Radley was inside that house, but I couldn't prove it, and felt it best to keep my mouth shut or I would be accused of believing in Hot Steams, phenomena I was immune to in the daytime." (Lee 51)

Scout decides to play, and the children act out a "melancholy drama" they name "One Man's Family." One day, Atticus sees the children playing and asks Jem if it has anything to do with the Radleys. Jem says it doesn't, then tells Scout and Dill that they should continue to play. Scout comments that Atticus' arrival is the second reason she wanted to quit the game. She says,

"The first reason happened the day I rolled into the Radley front yard. Through all the head-shaking, quelling of nausea and Jem-yelling, I had heard another sound, so low I could not have heard it from the side-walk. Someone inside the house was laughing." (Lee 54)

The last sentence of Chapter 4 is when Scout reveals why she feels certain that someone is inside the house. Scout believes that Boo Radley was the person she heard laughing. Not only does Boo Radley secretly give the children gifts at the beginning of the chapter, but he also laughs at Scout when she crashes into the house. His friendly, light-hearted actions suggest that he is not the "malevolent phantom" that the children think he is.

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How has your opinion of Boo Radley changed from chapter 1 to chapter 8 in To Kill a Mockingbird?

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Throughout To Kill a Mockingbird, the reader's opinion of Boo Radley changes a great deal.

In the first chapters, Boo Radley is a terrifying boogeyman that the reader only knows through the stories Jem and Scout tell—that he never leaves his house, that he stabbed his father with scissors, and that he is generally a "malevolent phantom."

By the middle of the text, the reader begins to realize that Boo might not actually be so malevolent after all. He begins leaving gifts for the children in the tree, mends Jem's pants, and even wraps Scout in a blanket while she is outside during Miss Maudie's house fire. This leads the reader to suspect the stories Scout believes about him may be untrue.

By the end of the novel, Boo saves the children's lives and is clearly an hero instead of a villain.

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