How Did Boo Radley Changed

Improved Essays
Throughout the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout Finch’s understanding of Boo Radley changed immensely. In the beginning of the novel, Boo was viewed as a monster. He was the subject of childhood horror stories, the myth that lived within the Radley house. By the end, he was viewed as a savior. He saved the lives of the Finch kids from the malicious Bob Ewell. Boo Radley started off the book as a monster, then Jem and Scout saw his true colors, and he was viewed as a savior.
“Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he [Boo Radley] existed, but Jem and I had never seen him. People said he went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed
…show more content…
They crept around his home, peeking inside windows hoping to get a glimpse of the infamous Boo “Arthur” Radley. Their fascination became obsession over time. Boo was always on their minds. One day, they began to find gifts inside a hole in the tree in front of the Radley house. Then a blanket was placed on Jem while Miss. Maudie’s house burnt down. Nobody saw who placed it there. Jem and Scout believed that the gifts were from Boo, and that the blanket was placed on them by him. This was when Jem and Scout began to question whether or not their previous descriptions of him were true, “[He 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” (13). Scout and Jem were being hunted down by Bob Ewell because their father, Atticus, accused him of beating, Mayella Ewell, his daughter. When Bob finally ambushed Jem and Scout, someone fought off Mr. Ewell and saved their lives (ending Bob’s life in the process). Scout later found out that her savior was Boo Radley himself. She had a short conversation with Boo, while walking him back to his house. Scout began to realize that he wasn’t a monster, he never was. She had finally reached an understanding of Boo Radley. As she said in the

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Radley kept Boo chained up in the basement, but Scout thought to herself about how Atticus said “it wasn’t that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people ghost” (11). Atticus knew there was mental abuse in the Radley house causing Boo to isolate himself from society. Once again, when Scout was talking to Miss Maudie about Boo, Scout asked if the stories about Mr. Arthur were true. Miss Maudie replied with no and, “that house is a sad house… The things that happen to people we never really know.”…

    • 1322 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People believed he was a bad man because he shot at the kids for peeking in his window, but he does not intend to do any harm, he just wants everyone to respect his privacy. To start, Boo Radley was a good guy. When Jem ripped his pants on the fence, Boo found them and stitched them back up for him. When Ms Maudie's house burnt down, he was secretly there and he gave Scout a warm blanket to keep her out of the cold. Later in the story when Scout and Jem were getting shot at, he was there.…

    • 1066 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the beginning Scout sees him as a ghost like and evil figure she states, “Boo is about six and 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.” Scouts ignorance and perhaps wild imagination striped her from getting to know the sweet and kind individual that Boo Radley was. As she matures she gradually sees the reasoning behind his actions. After Boo Radley saves the children from Bob Ewell and she walks with him home, she comes to the realization of, “ Atticus was right… you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Boo Radley Foil

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages

    However, she was always curious of others and always was questioning why society chose to act the way it did. For example, ever since she was born, she was told to stay away from the Radley place, people emphasized that “a certain entity” lived there, emphasizes that whoever lived there was an outcast from society and was something that people feared, because they referred to him as not a human being, but simply as a creature (Lee 8). Scout never understood the danger or the hate that people had towards Boo Radley, she was simply curious as to what he had done to become an outcast in society. However, there is a shift in Scout’s understanding and relationship with Boo Radley. Her feelings toward Boo shifted from curious to empathetic to understanding as Boo helps save Scout and her brother Jem.…

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This shows that after being discriminated for so long he was scared of the townspeople even though he didn't do anything to them. This also show that he would help the children out but when it came to the big picture he was scared people would discriminate against him. Overall even after being discriminated he would still go out of his way to help Jem and Scout. In conclusion Boo Radley not only represents a mockingbird but he himself is a mockingbird.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Because of her formable mind, Scout is able to believe such bizarre characteristic of Boo, seeing him as this monster of a man with a thirst for blood. With her believing this claim it leads Scout wanting to know more about Boo Radley and see the beast for herself. In a way Boo is a childhood mystery to Scout, allowing her to not only explore and questionable nature of Boo, but he is also as a childish story of a monster allowing her to believe that such a monstress creature exist. Scout is a young girl with a childish mind, and with the rumors of Boo Radley being spread around her it only fuels the flame of her…

    • 1493 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boo Radley Courage Quotes

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Harper Lee represents this theme through the actions of Boo Radley, Heck Tate, and Atticus Finch. Through the majority of the novel, Boo Radley was seen as a mysterious quiet neighbor that provided an outlet for Jem and Scout’s curiosity. This view changes as Boo Radley becomes the hero, saving the children from the murderous hands of Bob Ewell. Boo had been keeping watch on the children for years, caring for their safety by peeking…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This is a very special realization for Scout; she acknowledges Radley's good nature and kindness. She realizes that Radley had given them their lives, the most important gift of all. Radley has indeed found a place in the children's hearts, and through his natural goodness he comes out as the true hero of To Kill a Mockingbird. . Through many fundamental stages in the novel, the character of Boo Radley is slowly unraveled depicting his true self.…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    (Lee 374) In the past, Scout and Jem have always been mystified and inquisitive about Boo Radley and why he has never been seen outside. They always enjoy poking fun at him and consider him a scary “ghost”. But, because of this curiosity, Scout chooses to take her father’s advice and decides to put herself in Boo’s shoes and pretend to be Boo. She realizes that Boo has been able to see her and Jem all along while witnessing the other happenings in the neighborhood.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For years, Scout and Jem assumed that what people said about Boo Radley was true. They believed the neighborhood legend, and spent their summers trying to catch a glimpse of him. They tried to slip notes through the windows, dared each other to touch the house, and got caught trying to peek inside at night. To them Boo was almost a mythical creature,…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boo Radley is not a bad man, he only seems weird and scary because the people of Maycomb want kids to have anxiety when passing his house. The adventurous Scout Finch, and her family have been known to not fear anything, but fear itself, they know people are afraid, and people being afraid, causes more harm than wellness. The main idea of the book is that the strongest characters of the book try to be afraid of nothing but fear itself. Being…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Author Radley was the son of Radley’s family who just lived next to the Finches. Because his social isolation from the rest of Maycomb, people hardly saw him came out of his house and terrifying rumors on Author’s cruel and horrible personality spread out. Scout, Jem, and Dill called him Boo Radley due to their perception of Author as a scary bad person. The three little characters maintained their fear and curiosity towards Author and he never actually showed up until the last part of the book, when Bob Ewell followed Jem and Scout on their way home and attempted to injure or even commit to homicide. Boo Radley jumped out of his house with a kitchen knife to fight and finally killed Bob.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But as the book goes on it reveals how good of a person Boo Radley really is and how much he actually cares for others especially Jem and Scout. Soon Scout and Jem start to find little gifts in the tree on the Radley’s place which most likely came from Boo himself. And to top it all off, at the end of the book, when Bob Ewell is attacking Scout and Jem, Boo leaves his house to come to the defense of the children and saved both of their lives killing Bob Ewell in the process. In this single act, Boo shows Scout that he is not the scary, mythical person that everyone says he is and is not allowed to leave his house, but he is actually a kind and caring person who does not want to leave his house for he is too shy to…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Only Scout and her father are able to see the real Boo Radley. At first, Scout remembers the Radley house and residents from society's point of view. “Inside the House lived a malevolent phantom. [...] All stealthy crimes committed in Maycomb were his [Boo] work. [...] people still looked at the Radley place, unwilling to discard their initial suspicions”…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boo Radley was described as a mean scary man that was locked in his house Jem describes him as "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” (16). Then Boo left gifts for Jem and Scout and that was his only way of contact with the outside world. Eventually through the book Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout attempting to hurt them and Boo Radley kills Bob Ewell. Atticus thought Jem killed Bob Ewell…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays