Boo Radley Foil

Throughout literature, an author places a foil, for a main character or minor character that enables them to grow and develop as a character and emphasizes the theme of the book as a whole. A foil in literature is a character who shows opposing or contrasting qualities to another character. A foil is often used to show the unique characteristics of a person by comparing his actions, words, and thoughts of another character. A foil can be someone who compliments the character's actions and goals or it can be someone who represents the opposite of what the character is or hopes to be, in order to emphasize that character’s importance to the novel and emphasizes the central theme to which can be applied today. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Boo Radley serves as an unusual foil to Scout Finch in a way that one is …show more content…
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. As Scout and Jem were enthralled watching Miss Maudie’s house burn they did not notice the subtle act of kindness that Boo Radley did for them, as he laid a blanket across the kids' shoulders. Scout and Jem were shocked to find out that “Boo Radley...put the blanket