ipl-logo

Intimidation In To Kill A Mockingbird

513 Words3 Pages

“Atticus said no, it wasn’t that sort of thing, that there were other ways of making people into ghosts.” ( Chpt. 1, p11) Atticus says this to Scout and Jem in chapter one when the children speculate about the methods of intimidation Mr. Radley used to keep Boo Radley out of sight. Jem suspects that Mr. Radley keeps Boo Radley chained to the bed most of the time. Atticus points out to the children that there are “other ways of making people into ghosts”. The children frequently question their father about the Radleys, especially Boo, the mysterious recluse from three doors down. When questioned, Atticus rarely tells Scout and Jem anything more than to stop tormenting Boo Radley, and not to be nosey. This happens at a point in the plot …show more content…

Radley keeps him out of sight. Jem is quick to assume that Mr. Radley uses a physical means of restriction, tying Boo to the bed-post. What Jem doesn’t realize due to his young age and innocence, is that physical intimidation is not the only way to control someone. In some cases emotional and fear based intimidation can be the most powerful way to keep a person under control. For example, if a person is isolated, they feel alone and like they have nobody to turn to. This will make them feel trapped, and less likely to contradict their controller or stand up for themselves. Take the rumours about Boo Radley for example. In Maycomb, a small town where everybody knows everybody, Boo Radley disappeared from the public eye and instantly became the subject of terrible rumours. If he ever needed help and tried to seek it from the people of Maycomb, it is very unlikely that anyone would help him due to how he was viewed: a troubled man who could be a potential threat to society. When Atticus says that there are many other ways of making people into ghosts, he means that it does not have to be physical intimidation. He is suggesting to Jem that perhaps Boo Radley is being kept under control because Mr. Radley is using some other means. This is a powerful quote because it introduces ideas about how Boo Radley is treated at home. This also introduces Boo Radley as being a mockingbird. Atticus

Show More
Related

  • Peer Pressure In To Kill A Mockingbird

    725 Words  | 3 Pages

    Peer pressure appeared throughout the course of the short story. The children in the brownies Girl Scout program were pressured and influenced into having an altercation with the brownie troop 909. The characters in the story named Armetta and Octavia was like the leaders of the group. Anything they said or the way they acted, did not receive backlash by other fellow girl scouts because many were afraid of the outcome if one was to question their wrong doing .When the two character supposedly heard that one of the members of troop 909 called Daphne a nigger, they wanted their scout group to brawl with them .

    Read More

  • Boo Radley Quotes

    730 Words  | 3 Pages

    The second quote shows after the plot had taken place and the book had almost come to an end and we can see how Scout and him have now met each other. Through this encounter we can tell that Boo Radley is a very kind person who had just been isolated for years of his life making people think he was bad. He even asks Scout if she could walk him home and become her

    Read More

  • Quotes Showing Courage In To Kill A Mockingbird

    846 Words  | 4 Pages

    This is when Boo Radley asks for scout to take him home. This shows that Scout did the right thing by taking Boo to his place instead of being scared of him like everyone else. “Jem stayed moody and silent for a week. As Atticus had once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it: if I had gone alone to the Radley Place at two in the morning, my funeral would have been held the next

    Read More

  • Atticus Empathy Quotes

    707 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ultimately, Atticus is trying to teach his children the importance of understanding the impact their actions have, and instead of making fun of someone, they should put themselves in their position and wonder what it might be like to be

    Read More

  • Examples Of Judging Others In To Kill A Mockingbird

    980 Words  | 4 Pages

    We live in a society today where judging others is a regular, everyday activity. Many people may blame a significant amount of this issue on the excessive amount of technology we have access too, but this problem has been around for much longer. In the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, it shows the ugliness that can come from judging others, but it also teaches two young children, Scout and Jem, to listen to others, so that you can have the opportunity to learn from them. Throughout the story many characters were able to demonstrate this lesson for the kids, but three that were true examples of it were Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch and Boo Radley. With only aiming to stand up for what they believe in and not worrying what everyone

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast How To Read Literature Like A Professor And To Kill A Mockingbird

    751 Words  | 4 Pages

    " This shows that Boo Radley is the in a way “outside character”. He can sense that there are many horrors of the world destroying the innocence, or the mockingbird in this case, so he chooses to ignore

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Forgiveness Analysis

    753 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since Mr. Radley never came out of the house, frightening rumors spread about him and the children all knew them. They even played games where they reenacted the story that was spread around about him, not realizing how disgraceful it was to the Radleys. Towards the end the book, Scout finally get to meet Boo Radley after Bob Ewell attempted to kill her and Jem. Scout took Mr. Radley home and on the way back she thought, “Atticus was right. One time he said you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.

    Read More

  • Minor Characters In To Kill A Mockingbird

    1339 Words  | 6 Pages

    If not for the major characters, the minor characters have played an equally important role in Maycomb with their contrasting views. The novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is mainly about Jem and Scout growing up under the difficult situations created in Alabama during The Great Depression. Stereotypes and discrimination are major problems in Maycomb. Scout and Jem Finch are raised by Atticus, with the help of Calpurnia, their maid. In the first part of the book, Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by Boo Radley because of the rumors they hear about him, and they try everything to make him come out of his house.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Kindness In To Kill A Mockingbird

    864 Words  | 4 Pages

    Jem usually ignores people who talk trash about their family but when someone insults Atticus he would be furious but Atticus teaches him to be a gentleman and ignore the hateful comments. One other neighbor, Boo Radley is always behind doors but he shows Scout that he is not a bad person. Atticus knew it was Boo who covered up Scout but Scout says “Thank who?” and Atticus replies with “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (72).

    Read More

  • Tom Robinson Innocent Mockingbird Analysis

    704 Words  | 3 Pages

    Primary Evidence: Jem tells Scout that he thinks that Boo stays in his house because Boo knows that if he was to be seen in public he would be judged by Maycomb citizens (Lee 227). 2. Interpretation: Like a mockingbird, Boo is misjudged and people are scared that he will harm them, but he is actually innocent and loving. B. Claim: Boo radley is a loving giving man who likes to bring joy to

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In To Kill A Mockingbird

    757 Words  | 4 Pages

    However almost everyday Jem finds toys or random objects in the tree out front of the Radleys house. This gives Jem the idea that Boo isn 't some horrible monster after all. “Atticus believes Jem killed Ewell in self-defense, but Tate makes him realize that Boo Radley actually stabbed Ewell and saved both children 's lives.”(lee 28) This quote shows that the children had been put in a situation where the so-called “monster” Boo Radley saved their lives and they now could look at him not as some maniac but a hero and regular person who stays inside to protect himself from the stereotypes and cruelty of the world because of something people had said and that had been spread throughout the

    Read More

  • What Is The Irony In Chapter 4 Of To Kill A Mockingbird

    591 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.” Little do they know that Boo Radley will play a huge part in their survival at the end of the book when the crazy Bob Ewell Attacks them and Boo Radley protected them, something that Jem and scout would’ve never imagined, But something that the reader could foreshadow. Due to Boo’s acts of kindness like when he returned Jem’s pants sowed after he got them caught on the barb wire fence while he was snooping and around and also the gifts he left in the knot of the tree that helped him build a deeper sentimental relationship with Jem and Scout even if the kids did not know it. Boo had built such a relationship with them that he had done something extremely courageous and protects Jem and scout from Bob

    Read More

  • Examples Of Social Prejudice In To Kill A Mockingbird

    977 Words  | 4 Pages

    Social prejudice is shown throughout Harper Lee’s award winning book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Harper Lee powerfully analyses the theme social prejudice, and its effect on people. Such as how the Social prejudice is discrimination based on your status in society. An example of social prejudice would be the Radley family, which consists of Boo Radley, Nathan Radley and Arthur Radley. As they haven’t been out of their house in years people are lead to believe the rumours.

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

    915 Words  | 4 Pages

    Option 2 Literary Analysis To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a novel set during the 1930s in a small town in Southern Alabama called Maycomb. The story is told through the narrator, Scout, a young girl who lives with her father, a lawyer, and her older brother Jem. As a child, Scout is portrayed as a stubborn and obnoxious little girl who loves to read, play with her brother Jem, and fantasize about her mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. However, her life gets turned upside down when Scout’s father agrees to do something that is deemed unacceptable in the south; he agrees to defend Tom Robinson, a black man who is accused of raping a white girl. Instantly, Atticus and his family go from being respected and beloved by their town, to being

    Read More

  • Symbolism In To Kill A Mockingbird By Harper Lee

    1144 Words  | 5 Pages

    The mockingbird in the title of Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," symbolizes a number of characters throughout the novel. In order to fully understand why these characters symbolize killed mockingbirds, one must first understand what the title represents and why it's wrong to kill a mockingbird. The idea that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird was first mentioned by Atticus Finch (the protagonist's, Scout, father) when he saw the children shooting things with BB guns. As he knows that soon they will go after birds, he tells them: "Shoot all the Blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird”. As Miss Maudie (the Finch's next-door neighbour) explains to Scout, it's a sin to kill a mockingbird because

    Read More

More about Intimidation In To Kill A Mockingbird

Open Document