Boo Radley Character Analysis Essay

Words: 480
Pages: 2

According to Neil Armstrong, mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand. In the interesting novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Boo Radley, one of the main characters, is reclusive and mysterious, but even though he does not disclose himself, he is a friendly individual. One example of his distant but friendly personality is when in chapter four, he anonymously places gum in a tree hole next to his house for Jem and Scout to enjoy. “Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.” (44) This quotation reveals his character, not only his …show more content…
‘Scout!’ I ran to him. Someone had filled our knot-hole with cement. ‘Don’t you cry, now, Scout… don’t cry now, don’t you worry-’”. The only connection the children had with Boo Radley, which was the knothole, was now severed. The unselfish Boo Radley who wanted to make Jem and Scout content, will no longer have a chance to do so because the knot-hole was covered. At the end of chapter seven, when Jem asks Atticus about the cement filled hole, he realizes that Mr. Radley did not fill the hole up because it was old, but for other reasons. “He stood there until nightfall, and I waited for him. When we went in the house I saw he had been crying; his face was dirty in the right places, but I thought it odd that I had not heard him.” Jem sheds tears because he enjoyed finding new treasures in the hole and wanted to find out who had been putting items in the oak tree’s hole. Jem attempted to act masculine but quietly grieved his loss for hours while crying. Even though Boo Radley is depicted in the book as a bloodthirsty monster, he is a mysterious but benevolent character and does not want other people to suffer the same pain he has