Nathan Radley as a minor character has a great impact on the story, throughout the book Nathan is showed cruel and unfriendly which sets a background about his family, especially about Arthur. He is even more hurtful to young children such as Jem, Scout and Dill. It is unclear whether he is Boo’s jailor or a protector. First, Nathan cruelly cuts off an important element of Boo's relationship with Jem and Scout when he plugs up the knothole in which Boo leaves presents for the children. This upsets the children and at the same time makes the story more interesting for the reader. Scout begins to think that Nathan is similar to deceased Mr. Radley and Boo. Also, after this incident the children weren’t seen sneaking around the Radley’s yard.
When one night the children were trying to catch a glimpse of Boo, Nathan recognizes their presence and welcomes them with a shotgun shot. But fortunately the children weren’t hit. And yet again Nathan’s characteristics give a feeling that all Radleys were identical to Nathan, even though it was not true. Part of this feeling is because of the rumors going around about Boo and how his cruel father locked him for the rest of his life.
However, Nathan Radley only had two key incidents in the story but these two parts gave a stereo typical idea of how the Radleys lived and got along with people. Nathan created an interest into who Arthur Radley really was and why he was so lonely. Nathan’s character is what leads to the great creation of Boo’s mysterious character and the great ending to the story.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
The author created Arthur “Boo” Radley and made Scout, the narrator, fear him. Boo was always a mysterious character throughout the novel. He was never seen and was often times feared by the neighborhood children. They would run by the Radley house every day in hopes to make it past without Boo coming out to get them. Boo was the character that was always a mystery, but in the end, surprised everyone.…
- 297 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
he main character of this book is a young girl, nicknamed Scout. She lives with her brother, Jem, who is four years older than her, and her father. She ages from six to nine in this story. Boo Radley is the only person who could do this novel justice if he was the main character. He would still have some of the details of the original book and he would be able to tell about the trial from the perspective of the newspapers. Boo Radley would also be able to discuss his relationship with the children next door. He was so kind by leaving them gifts and they established a relationship without even seeing each other.…
- 358 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Mr. Arthur “Boo” Radley, a neighbor to Jem and Scout, has never been viewed correctly by everyone. Throughout the book, his neighbors imagined him as cannibalistic, mysterious, and monstrous man, however the growth of Jem and Scout result in a change of perspective. After the kids realized Boo had been caring for them by returning clothes, warming them by giving a blanket, and saving them from being killed, Boo Radley’s reputation altered greatly through the eyes of children and families in Maycomb.…
- 692 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In the book To Kill a Mockingbird, there is a character named Boo Radley. The children believe Boo is an evil being who goes around the town at night making flowers die and slaughtering chickens, even though it was proven that it was not him. One reason they believe Boo is evil is because he is locked up and never actually leaves the house. Boo is locked up because he started the closest thing to a gang ever seen in their small town. He also apparently stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors. Scout and her brother Jem are terrified of Mr. Radley, mostly because of the rumors about him, they run past his house every single time they pass by on their way to school. They also think his father was scary and quiet, Scout likes Arthurs…
- 266 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Boo Radley is one of the most important characters in the story. “Hey Boo,” (Lee, 362). This is the first chapter where you actually meet Boo. He is standing in the corner of Jem’s room when Jem broke his elbow. Everybody thinks Boo is this really scary person. They call him Boo because he’s like a ghost. His real name is Arthur Radley. Jem described him as, “about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. 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." (Lee,chapter1) This shows what Scout and Jem thought of him. It was a not very good assumption. He turns out to be not so creepy in the way he looks and turned out to be a very nice person which scout didn’t really expect. They realized their perceptions was wrong because he gave them food, fixed Jem’s pants, and gave them dolls over time.She came to expect it as she matured and got…
- 610 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird the character “Boo” Radley is portrayed as an evil and creepy specter of a person who prowls the neighborhood at dusk as if to remain invisible to the outside world around him who would otherwise judge and reticule him. He is thought to be all of these horrible accusations as well as others such as dangerous and prone to violence when in reality he is a mockingbird, a symbol of good and innocence . It is not until the end of the novel that Boo’s true character is reviled when he saves the Finch children from a truly evil man who wishes to harm or even kill them. Boo’s arrival seems to serve as a sense of justice in a time much deserving of it.…
- 282 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Long term isolation and Boo’s reclusive personality causes him to have no friends. Boo tries to reach out to the children by leaving them gifts in the knothole of a tree for them to discover. Obviously, Boo treasures the gifts a lot. Even though 2 Indian-head pennies are worth a fortune, he is still willing to give them to the children because he wants them to be fascinated by the gifts just as he does. Boo shows kindness to the children when Jem and Scout are watching Miss Maudie’s house go up in flames. As mentioned in the story, “'Thank who?' I (Scout) asked. 'Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you.'” Boo is courageous and protective, he saves Jem and Scout from being killed by Bob Ewell. Above incidents proves Boo Radley, after all, is not a harmful person described by Maycomb people, in fact he is caring and…
- 839 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
At the start of the story we (the audience) are introduce to the main characters; Atticus, Jem, Boo Radley, Robert Ewell, Scout, Tom Robinson, Calpurnia, and more. Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mocking Bird” is the character that we 1st get to see being judge. Jem and Scout see Boo Radley at first as nothing but a “malevolent phantom" (chapter 1 pg. 8) it states “Inside the house lived a malevolent phantom” Everything that surrounds Boo Radley would be the rumors and myths. Boo Radley seems to have never came out his house unless it was needed for. As Boo Radley saved Jem and Scout from being killed by Bob Ewell, we (the readers) finally get an actually inside look into Boo Radley. Him saving them (Jem and Scout) showed that he is actually a humane person who puts others 1st before himself, who isn’t what the townspeople say he is. When he performed that act of heroism, both Jem’s and Scout’s views had been understood towards him; really realizing that Boo…
- 442 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Throughout Maycomb, Boo is known as a “monster” for stabbing his father with scissors many years ago while he was cutting paper for his scrap book one. Although no one really knows any information about the incident, they have misjudged Boo before they have met him. While Dill, a close friend was visiting Jem and Scout for the summer, the three children play many acting games about the life of Arthur Radley, and “as summer progressed, so did [their] game” (39). The game itself is a representation of prejudice because they are misjudging an innocent man. The kids believed that “Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall,” they assumed such by the tracks he left. They also imagined that “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch,” concluding that that is “why his hands were bloodstained…” They also seemed to believe that “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” (13). Although they have not met Boo Radley, they prejudged him by hearing false rumors from their…
- 855 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
1. Boo Radley is Mr. Radley’s son and he lives on Jem’s street. His name is Arthur and he is described as the town’s phantom who only comes out at night. Boo joins the bad crowd and he resists arrest and helps his friends lock an officer in the courthouse outhouse. His father locks him up in their house as a punishment for Boo instead of him going to the state industrial school. Boo Radley has not been seen for fifteen years, but after he stabs his father with scissors he is taken away to the courthouse basement and many people see him, but when he is taken home nobody has seen him since.…
- 614 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Arthur Radley had a rough past and was a delinquent in his teen years. He was in a gang that did what was considered the unspeakable: gambled, drank alcohol, vandalized, and terrorized the people of Maycomb. He was caught and sent to prison, but the place where he had stayed was moldy and had made him sick. They decided that he would be put on house arrest for the rest of his life. No one had ever seen him again after that. The people would make his story into the town talk filled with rumors. Maycomb county had depicted him to be a violent cannibal, in truth no one truly knew. “He had to stoop a little to accommodate me, but if Miss Stephanie Crawford was watching me from her upstairs window, she would see Arthur Radley escorting me down the sidewalk, as any gentleman would do.” (282). In other words, the other characters were making the accusations that Boo was some crazy and violent person, when they haven't even seen or had a conversation with him, just as Mrs Dubose and Bob…
- 910 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The Radley house has always been a mystery to the children of Maycomb County, the town where Scout lives. According to Jem, Boo Radley six and a half feet tall, ate squirrels and cats, and had a long scar across his face. One summer, Dill, a friend of the children, dared Jem to touch the Radley house. Dill told Jem, “…the folks in Meridian certainly weren’t as afraid as the folks in Maycomb…” (Lee 13). This was enough to persuade Jem into touching the house. After this amazing feat, Scout…
- 618 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Boo Radley was one of the main characters in this novel, yet he was only seen in the novel very few times. His role in this novel was to prove to the audience that stereotypes are not always true, since the stereotyped evil character was actually acting as a parent-like figure to the Finch children. The town of Maycomb had created a horrible stereotype over the years of Boo Radley only because of his parents and the fact that he had social issues. Many people including Jem, scout and Dill thought Boo was, “chained to a bed most of the time, 6 feet tall, judging by his tracks, he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch that’s why his hand were bloodstained… there was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten, his eyes popped out, and drooled most of the time,” (pg.16) only from stories they have heard from others around Maycomb. Boo Radley shows the theme of the…
- 1616 Words
- 7 Pages
Better Essays -
Boo Radley is not accepted nor does he fit into Maycomb society because he is different from others. Moreover, Boo does not act like a normal person. In society, his actions are mysterious and abnormal. After some trouble with the law “ Mr. Radley’s boy was not seen again for fifteen…
- 508 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Boo is first described as a tall and scary looking person who runs around at night eating live possums and cats. Boo got into a bit of trouble as a young boy and one time his mother ran out screaming that Boo had stabbed his father and then went on like he hadn’t done anything, since this event Boo had been in his house for years. All of the neighborhood kids are very curious and want to get a sight at the phantom Boo by peeking in their windows. One of the first times Jem and Scout come in contact with Boo is when Boo is putting items into the hole of a tree and the kids find them, but at this time the kids did not know it was Boo putting the items into the hole. Some of the items found in the knoughthole were a pocket watch, chewing gum, and the most unique was two dolls that looked like Jem and Scout. They got scared and thought that they were being watched. After they find all of these items Nathan Radley fiils the knoughthole with cement, mysteriously. The next time Boo is seen is when Miss. Maudie’s house is one fire and Scout was cold and without her noticing someone wrapped a blanket around her, when she got home Scout’s father asked her where she got it but she didn’t know. It later came to conclusion that it was Boo because Miss. Maudie’s house is near the Radley house fence. The last time Boo is seen is at the end of the novel, on Halloween. Bob Ewell is attacking Scout and trying to stab her from behind but her metal cage saves her but Bob keeps trying and pushes Jem out of the way and breaks his arm. Boo stopped Bob and stabbed him under his rib and kills him. Boo carries Jem home and watches over him while the sheriff and Atticus talk. The sheriff knows Boo killed him but he doesn’t want Boo to go in the limelight, because he wouldn’t like it. This is the last time Boo is…
- 1089 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays