Boo Radley In To Kill A Mockingbird

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In “To Kill a Mockingbird” Harper Lee indicates parental figures and experiences from childhood can shape an individual's integrity through the Finch children’s encounters with Boo Radley and the lesson learned from Mrs. Dubose. Boo Radley is a very influential figure in “To Kill a Mockingbird” because of his acts of kindness and affection for both Scout and Jem. After the Bob Ewell incident Boo asks Scout if she could walk him home, while Scout is standing on the Radley’s porch she begins remembering all of the times Jem, Dill and herself would stand waiting at the gate, “Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives” (Lee, 373). Furthermore Boo was feared by people in Maycomb because of the rumors they heard and made about him but his acts of kindness such as the gifts Jem and Scout found in the tree and Boo saving their lives show that he is innocent. Boo Radley is an important figure to both Jem …show more content…
Dubose, she demonstrates people are not always what they may seem through her lesson she gave Jem. After Jem cut Mrs. Dubose’s camellia bush she wanted Jem to read to her for a month, Jem complains to Atticus and he agrees with Mrs. Dubose, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand” (Lee, 149). Mrs. Dubose teaches both Jem and Scout that people aren’t always what they may seem. Having Jem read to her brought some success in her effort to combat her addiction of morphine. Not before long Mrs. Dubose dies Jem finally realizes, “According to her views, she died beholden to nothing and nobody. She was the bravest person I ever knew” (Lee, 149). Mrs. Dubose spends her days battling her addiction and trying to overcome it. Mrs. Dubose impacts the children greatly because she reveals that people focus more on assumptions rather than