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What Is The Radley's House In To Kill A Mockingbird

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The Radley’s house in To kill a Mockingbird: Appearance VS Reality

Whether it is now or fifty years ago, the harm of rumors is huge. Rumors can create something that does not exist and twist people’s views, which will often have terrible impact on those who are involved in it. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee effectively employs the Radley’s house as a symbol to develop an important theme: that rumors will stop people from understanding the truth.

The way the people of Maycomb describe the Radley family existence develops the theme that rumors stop people from understanding the truth. The legend of Boo Radley is a rumour that stops people from truly knowing who he is. When Jem tells Scout about Boo, he states that, “According …show more content…

In the first part of the book, Scout and Jem are very afraid of the legend of the Radley’s house. As Scout says,"The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end" (Lee 7). They spend their childhood trying to discover what is in the house. If there are no rumors spreading about the Radley’s house, if Scout and Jem know that the Radleys are nothing special, they will not cause so many troubles because of their curiosity. For example, they will not go sneak into the Radley’s house so they will not almost get shot by a shotgun. Jem will not lose his pants, so no one will get punished in the end. This is all because they believe the rumors, but since they are still kids, they want to find out the truth. Another legend, or ghost story that Jem tells Scout shows why rumors cover the truth. Jem told Scout that "Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom. People said he 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 on them. Any stealthy small crimes committed in Maycomb were his work" (Lee 10). This is a big part why people do not get along with the Radleys, because they are afraid, so they do not even want to …show more content…

As a symbol, The Radley’s house, which is in the centre of rumors, shows the overview of how Maycomb, as a society, sees and believes according to what most people say. It also shows how kids like Jem and Scout are affected by those rumors since they are young. Those rumors mix up their understanding of appearance and

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