Essay On Boo Radley's Relationship In To Kill A Mockingbird

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird is compiled of thirty captivating chapters. There are many events that occur throughout these thirty chapters, and many relationships between the characters change. One such relationship is the one between Arthur, or Boo, Radley and Jem and Scout Finch. Although Boo only came out of his house once in the novel, his relationship with the Finch children was seemingly the most dynamic one in this novel. Ten-year-old Jem and six-year-old Scout naturally believed almost everything they heard, which is why they believed the horror stories about Boo and the rest of the Radley family that they heard from Miss Stephanie Crawford, the town gossip. All of these stories portrayed Boo Radley as the monstrous, violent villain,

Then, Miss Maudie’s house caught on fire in the middle of a cold night, causing the whole neighborhood to wake up and go outside to see what was happening. Jem and Scout were standing in front of the Radley house, watching the fire, when somebody came and put a blanket over Scout’s shoulders. At the time, neither Jem nor Scout noticed this happen, but later they realized it had to have been Boo. Later on, after the Halloween play at the school, the Finch children were walking home in the dark when they were attacked by Bob Ewell. Jem and Scout could have been killed, but again, Boo came out at just the right moment and saved them. At this point, Boo was thought of as a watchful protector and a true neighbor to the children.

As with all relationships, this one changed many different times throughout To Kill A Mockingbird. Boo went from being the children’s biggest fear to their biggest hero. At the end of the novel, the kids not only admired Boo, but also were thankful for him. Most of the changes in the friendship were caused by Jem and Scout maturing and not believing the stories they had previously heard. Overall, the relationship between the Finch kids and Boo Radley was the most dynamic in the