Similarities Between Boo Radley And To Kill A Mockingbird

The logic behind a good book are the characters. The more interesting they are the better the book. One way to make the characters more interesting and mysterious is to give them two different identities. For example, Katniss Everdeen has two identities, one is how she acts in public. Katniss comes off as strong to the public but in private she is not. Through Harper Lee’s character’s Boo Radley, Atticus, and Bob Ewell readers learn that it is necessary to develop a public and private self in To Kill A Mockingbird.
For Boo Radley it is very important for him to have a private and public identity. Not many people have ever seen him but they have heard stories of him. People make up stories of him that are not actually true. One of the crazy
When there was a mad dog in town someone had to solve the problem by shooting it. Everyone knew Atticus could shoot the best in the town except Jem and Scout. When the children found out that their dad had the best shot in Maycomb, they were amazed, yet shocked. Jem is so impressed and surprised that he said to Scout, “’d you see him, Scout? ’d you see him just standin’ there?...’n’ all of a sudden that gun was a part of him…” (129). Atticus believes that it is best for him to keep this part of him to himself in order to maintain the way Jem and Scout viewed him. Atticus did not want his kids to see him as reckless and crazy, but rather as wise and gentle. Atticus Finch clearly forms a public identity because of everything he tried to do for Tom Robinson in the trial. Atticus wants to show people that it is important to value equality and justice in the world. Many people in town do not quite understand why Atticus is defending Tom but he explains to Scout, “if I didn’t I couldn't hold up my head in town, I couldn't represent this county in the legislature, I couldn't even tell you or Jem not to do something again” (100). Atticus believes that if he does not do this that people will not respect him as much as they did and he will not be able to respect himself. No matter what, Atticus will always do his best to set a good example for his
Mr. Ewell is the person who tries the hardest to hide his private self because of what would happen if people knew the truth. Atticus reveals who Bob is by asking Mayella two questions, “‘Who beat you up? Tom Robinson or your father?’ No answer” (251). Atticus saying this made people in the town realize who Bob is and how he treats his kids. While Atticus was cross examining Mayella people could tell that she was getting a bit nervous especially after the last questions which also proves to the people that they are lying. The jury and the people watching began to see that Bob may be lying about his whole analysis because of how nervous and twisted up Mayella was getting. Bob Ewell does not have much of a public self, people only notice how poor they are and where they live. Atticus believes that if Bob really cared about his kids that he would want to make sure that they are perfectly fine. Mr. Finch proves that Bob does not care whether or not Mayella is okay when he says, “Didn’t you think she should have had a doctor, immediately?” (235). If the injuries were as bad as they were telling the court they were, it would only make sense for Mayella to see a doctor unless Bob wanted to hide her injuries because he is the one who caused them in the first