Skip to main content

How does Boo Radley relate to the theme of prejudice in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird?

Although racial prejudice is important to the story, Boo Radley represents another type of prejudice.  People fear and do not accept anyone who is different.


The entire neighborhood is judgmental and critical of Boo Radley.  He’s an unusual man, because he has not been seen outside of his house since he was a teenager.  The adults told stories about him, and the children were afraid of him.


The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown...

Although racial prejudice is important to the story, Boo Radley represents another type of prejudice.  People fear and do not accept anyone who is different.


The entire neighborhood is judgmental and critical of Boo Radley.  He’s an unusual man, because he has not been seen outside of his house since he was a teenager.  The adults told stories about him, and the children were afraid of him.



The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end … (Ch. 1) 



Arthur Radley was a fairly normal boy, but he had a troubled young adulthood.  He was somewhat of a juvenile delinquent.  His parents were very strict “foot-washing” Baptists.  This might have affected the fact that he turned on them.  The most famous (and perhaps apocryphal) incident was the scissors incident when Boo was thirty-three years old. 



According to Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities. (Ch. 1) 



Boo Radley was kept in the courthouse basement, and then returned to the custody of his family and never seen again.  Since this incident, the adults in the neighborhood gossiped about him.  People like Stephanie Crawford told stories about him, such as that he was peeking into windows at night. 


Actually, Arthur Radley was just quiet and shy and wanted to be left alone.  He did not leave his house because he didn’t want to.  Scout, Jem, and Dill shifted from thinking he was a monster to trying to be friends with him, and it paid off.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more