Boo Radley (To Kill a Mockingbird)

Who is Boo Radley?

Boo Radley is a character from a book called To Kill a Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. He is  a misunderstood character and despite the rumors about him is a kind character. He stays in his house most of the time, and the people in Maycomb County take advantage of that by creating rumors about him that are not necessarily true. People say that Boo Radley was about six and a half feet tall, had popped eyes, drooled most of the time, dined on raw squirrels and cats, had yellow rotten teeth, had bloodstained hands, and had a long scar across his face, although this might not be true. Jem gave this description and might have said false information. To my agreement, Atticus, Jem and Scout’s father, thinks that Boo Radley minds his own business and Scout and Jem should mind their own. I think that Boo Radley is a kind-hearted character despite the rumors about him.

Boo Radley has done many things, good and bad. Let’s start with the bad things. When Boo Radley was 33 years old,  he was cutting up something for his scrapbook, and when his father passed by him, he drove the scissors into Mr. Radley’s pant leg, but when the police showed up, Boo Radley was still cutting. As a result, Boo Radley was locked in the courthouse basement. Secondly, according to the neighborhood legend, when Boo Radley was a teenager, he met some of the Cunninghams, a gang that experimented with stumphole whiskey,  but everyone was too afraid to tell his father that he was with a gang. In the book , it says, “Boo wasn’t crazy, he was high-strung at times.” Boo Radley has also done good things. In addition, some of the “bad” things that Boo Radley has done are just rumors.He does good things too. Here is a quote from the book:”Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.” “Thank who?”  I asked. “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire, you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.”

Based on the things he has done in general, you might think that overall, he is a bad person, but he is in fact a great and kind-hearted person. Most of his “bad” deeds are just rumors, and he is also caring, as he put the blanket over Scout. Plus, from the way Calpurnia and Atticus talk about Boo Radley, it does not sound like he dines on raw squirrels and cats. I think that he is a normal person, except from a mental ability that people take advantage of and turn into rumors. If you think about it, there are also lots of plausible rumors, such as the description given to him by Jem. But the truth is that Boo Radley is a human and makes mistakes too. He also proves to have good qualities. Why do you think that Boo Radley covered Scout up. It’s because he cares about people. I think that Boo Radley is actually a good person in terms of qualities which separates him from others.

Boo Radley is human just like us, and makes mistakes, but he learns from them and does not repeat those same mistakes. When Boo Radley injured his dad’s leg, he was sorry, and did not do that again. He learned his lesson when he was locked in the courthouse basement, or maybe even earlier. People in Maycomb county just are annoying him by being suspicious, but still, he does not become upset. People are just too suspicious of Boo Radley. For example when Jem and Dill were playing a game about Boo Radley. This might have frustrated Boo Radley because he is not really like that. He is really a kind and caring person. Here is an example when people are daring each other: Our first raid came to pass only because Dill bet Jem The Gray Ghost against two Tom Swifts that Jem wouldn’t get past the Radley gate. People do not understand that Boo Radley learns from his mistakes, and think he is a bad person, but really, he is good.

As I stated earlier, Boo Radley is a good person and the rumors about him are usually not true.  People know that he is a kind-hearted and caring character, and just do not understand him. He cares about people other than himself and just gets a little frustrated at times, and as a result makes a mistake. But he learns from it, and that is the most important thing. He will not ever make the same mistake again and knows that it is wrong. In his heart, Boo Radley is a good character.