Boo Radley Character Analysis

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Boo Radley is the Mockingbird

Most young kids are afraid of what they can not see including the boogieman, ghosts, and other imagined scary characters. Boo Radley is a mysterious character because he is never seen outside his house. Jem and Scout are afraid of Boo because their imaginations have pictured him as a creepy monster. Boo has suffered a horrible life damaged by his cruel father’s punishment to an incident with the law when Boo was young. Boo’s character is actually a symbol for the theme of Harper Lee’s story To Kill a Mockingbird. Events that occur in the story show Boo’s real personality, rather than the person that most of Maycomb believes he is. Boo Radley’s real personality is shown through his external conflict with
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On a very cold night, the Finches have to abandon their house as the next door neighbor’s house burns to the ground. A blanket mysteriously ends up around Scout’s shoulder. On p. 81, while Atticus helps with fighting the fire, Jem and Scout are told to stay outside far from the burning house. It’s freezing outside and Scout, in her pajamas, is cold. Atticus asks, “Whose blanket is that?” (81). Scout is confused, looking down she finds herself “clutching a brown woolen blanket” she was wearing around her shoulders, “squaw-fashion”. Jem, who had been standing next to Scout the whole time told his dad “he didn’t know know how it got there . . . we stood down by the Radley gate away from everybody, we didn’t move and inch” (81). Atticus pieces together the kids’ story and begins to understand replying, “Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up” (81). But the kids can’t imagine who he’s talking about. Atticus explains, “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (81). This incident is a foreshadow of the kind and thoughtful character that Boo really is, rather than the frightening creep everyone says he is. Boo’s mysterious good deeds are adding up and the Finch children are learning that their original impression of Boo is not correct. Society misunderstands who he really

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