In To Kill a Mockingbird there were many characters who were misjudged such as Tom Robinson, Atticus Finch, and even Calpernia but the character who was most misjudged was Boo (Arthur) Radley because of the incident that he had with his father as a child, which was when people started viewing him as a monster when in reality he wasn’t.
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
Throughout the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” written by Harper Lee, the readers can see how Scout changes her view about Boo Radley. Because of their nosiness, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to drag Boo out his house and to the outside world. Their innocent actions combined with Boo’s actions changed the image of Boo, in their minds, from “a malevolent phantom” (10), a person who kills cats and eats squirrels to a neighbor they can trust, who saves them from Bob Ewell. Scout says at the end, “Boo was our neighbor” (373). The readers can see a great change in their relationship. At the beginning, the children cannot even go near Boo’s place without palpitation, but at the end, Scout is comfortable enough to walk Boo up to his front porch. Throughout the novel, Scout has changed her view of Boo after a chain of Boo’s actions toward her. As Scout grows older, she becomes wiser to understand her father’s lesson, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it ” (39). Her father says this at the beginning, but till the end, thanks to the maturity combined with Boo’s actions that help Scout to understand it. She has matured enough to realize that people should not judge other people by rumor, but give them some chances to prove themselves.
Boo Radley is the mockingbird to Scout's understanding, just like Tom Robinson was a mockingbird to Jem. From Atticus's teachings she has learned to develop into a young lady. Atticus's lessons and Boo Radley impacted her view on the world. The lessons have propelled her forward to survive in her
In Harper Lee’s critically acclaimed magnum opus “To Kill A Mockingbird;” Lee emphasizes her view on the importance of empathy through how she depicts empathy in regards to the characters Scout, Tom Robinson, and Atticus. “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a novel shown from the view of Scout, a young girl living in the sleepy town of Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s, and her and her brothers escapades; mainly their captivation over an elusive local resident who doesn’t leave his house, and the drawn-out process of a court case against a black man, Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of rape. Throughout the novel, Harper Lee emphasizes the importance of empathy to her through how she
Have you ever thought your parents weren't cool? We all have, so does Jem and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. No, this isn't an essay on why you should think your parents aren't cool it's to take a cool satisfy sip of Jem Finch's life as a young boy in a racist society. In addition we will crawl around and Jem’s skin to get the just of Jem's life and other aspects of it.
Scout Finch is not an ordinary girl, and she does not want to be. Everything about her life proves a little bit out of the ordinary, especially the mysteries of her town. Things start to get even more odd than usual when a neighbor’s nephew, Dill, arrives. He has an untamed curiosity that also boosts Scout’s wonder to figure out the truth of the Radley house next door and the mysterious Boo Radley who lives there. While many questions surround Scout, her father takes a case that will change all of their lives. He agrees to defend an African-American man that was falsely accused, something that was unspeakable at the time. In the town of Maycomb, Scout’s traits of curiosity, tomboy personality, and boldness and courage, help her realize that
In Chapter 4 of To Kill a Mockingbird Jem and Scout find several things in the knot-hole of the old oak tree on the Radley house. The children are very curious about who left these things there. Later in the book they realize that it is Boo Radley is leaving the gifts. He is trying to show them his affection for them. Throughout the novel Jem and scout find 2 sticks of gum, a pack of gum, 2 old Indian head coins, gray twine, soap figures carved to like Jem and Scout, old spelling bee medals and an old watch on a chain and an aluminum knife. "Two live oaks stood at the end of the Radley lot; their roots reached into the side road and made it bumpy. Something about one of the trees attracted my attention. Some tin foil was sticking out of a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at
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. Justine standing on the Radley porch was enough.” (Lee 279). Scout now sees the world the world through Boo Radley’s shoes, even though she might be taking it too literally, and find compassion for things that Boo Radley did long
Boo Radley is a misunderstood, and kind-hearted man who is represented as a mockingbird in the novel. Boo, due to the county's curiosity and fast pace spreading of rumours, is often perceived as monster “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom” (Lee 8).
In To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee teaches us about the town of Maycomb County during the late 1930s, where the characters live in isolation and victimization. Through the perspective of a young Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, readers will witness the prejudice that Maycomb produces during times where people face judgement through age, gender, skin colour, and class, their whole lives. Different types of prejudice are present throughout the story and each contribute to how events play out in the small town of Maycomb. Consequently, socially disabling the people who fall victim from living their life comfortably in peace. Boo Radley and his isolation from Maycomb County, the racial aspects of Tom Robinson, and the decision Atticus Finch makes as a lawyer, to defend a black man has all made them fall in the hands of Maycomb’s prejudice ways.
He is accountable for creating many themes as well affecting the actions and development of other characters. Furthermore, he plays a major role in the maturation of Jem and Scout. Jem, Scout, and Dill are fascinated by the rumors of Boo Radley around them. People in Maycomb perceive Boo as someone who, “dined on raw squirrels and cats” and “the teeth he had were yellow and rotten”(16). This quote shows the people’s impression of Boo and how they affect the childrens in the book. A day came when they were acting out Boo’s life and Atticus says, “that you never really understand a person until you climb into his skin and walk around in it” (36). Boo teaches Scout and Jem not to judge a person based on rumors because later in the book, they find out that Boo is not this evil person as the society perceives but he is an innocent and kind person, symbolic of a mockingbird. Boo also teaches Jem and Scout a major theme of the book which is that it's terrible to do harm to an innocent person as Atticus would say, “It is a sin to kill a mockingbird.” At the end of the book, when Tate and Atticus are hiding the case of Boo killing Bob, Scout reminds Atticus that charging Boo with murder would be, “Like shootin’ a mockingbird, wouldn’t it?”(276) It refers back to when Atticus told them it’s a sin to kill mockingbird because they don’t harm you. Boo is symbolic of a mockingbird because he didn’t do harm to anyone. At the end, Scout
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
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.
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