From the first descriptions of the Radley's, it's clear that he's not well liked by the community.
Key descriptions of Boo Radley:
- Malevolent Phantom
- When people's azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them
- morbid
- Radley pecans would kill you
This description of Boo changes throughout the text. When it becomes apparent that Boo killed Bob Ewell, all who know (Heck Tate, Atticus Finch and Scout) all ensure that he's protected. Why do you think this is?
TASK: Write an exam essay response to the question: "How is Boo Radley presented to the audience across the text?"
The Boo Radley Game
The children, Jem, Scout and Dill, create a game to express their feelings regarding Boo Radley. The children are eager to find out more about him, but because of his reclusive nature, he is shut away from their curiousity. Also, as the only information they have about his is based on lies and legend, the picture they create is highly dramatised, incorporating the "facts" as they know them.
Look at the language used by Lee is the passage above and comment on the connotations of the words selected to create a picture of both the children and Boo himself.
Presents from Boo Radley
In the first section of the novel, a mysterious person (Boo Radley) leaves presents for Scout and Jem. The presents are indications that the giver has spent a long time watching the children and therefore knows what they'd like. While the identity of the giver is never fully identified, this gap left by Lee Harper is easily filled due to the textual clues she leaves. She says that the tree where the presents are discovered "stood at the edge of the Radley lot" and the fact that Mr Radley, Boo's brother, fills up this tree to stop it also indicates that the giver is Boo.
The Boo Radley Game
The children, Jem, Scout and Dill, create a game to express their feelings regarding Boo Radley. The children are eager to find out more about him, but because of his reclusive nature, he is shut away from their curiousity. Also, as the only information they have about his is based on lies and legend, the picture they create is highly dramatised, incorporating the "facts" as they know them.
Presents from Boo Radley
In the first section of the novel, a mysterious person (Boo Radley) leaves presents for Scout and Jem. The presents are indications that the giver has spent a long time watching the children and therefore knows what they'd like. While the identity of the giver is never fully identified, this gap left by Lee Harper is easily filled due to the textual clues she leaves. She says that the tree where the presents are discovered "stood at the edge of the Radley lot" and the fact that Mr Radley, Boo's brother, fills up this tree to stop it also indicates that the giver is Boo.
The initial perception of Boo Radley changes dramatically at the end of the text. At the end of the text, Boo is presented as the saviour of Scout and Jem and therefore the hero of the text. He is the perfect example of a metaphorical mockingbird as he is seen as one thing, when in reality he's another.
Boo saving Jem and Scout:
Scout realising who Boo actually is
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