Boo+Radley+-+how+the+children+see+him

At the beginning of the book Jem, Dill and Scout see Arthur Radley as being a scary monster and as Scout says a "malevolent phantom". This shows that they think of him as not really existing and being a made up monster that 'haunts' the neighbourhood without really existing. They get told many stories about the bad ways of Boo and being young, they believe them because they're easily influenced. They get told things such as Miss Stephanie Crawford waking up the middle of the night and "saw his [Boo] face looking straight through the window at her... said his head was like a skull lookin' at her" which makes him out to be a very scary man who goes sneaking round in the middle of the night. This depicts him as being a bit of a weird personality and someone you wouldn't want to be face-to-face with. At the end of the book, the kids views suddenly changed on Boo, since he saved there lives. When Scout actually meets Boo she is shocked at how he is, I don't think she really knew what to expect, she doesn't seem scared of him but I think she's in shock of the realisation that Boo Radley just saved hers and her brothers lives. Scout and Jem would of thought that Boo was out to get them and if anyone was going to kill them it would be him as all they had heard about him was that he was dangerous and scary, especially after the 'scissors incident'. Scout now realises Boo stays inside because after being inside so long, to show his face around the neighbourhood would draw a lot of attention to him and as he's shy he would rather not be talked about or stared at. Also, she realises he's caring and not a "malevolent phantom" that she had described him as.

Amy Conway

At first the children Jem, Dill and Scout see Boo Radley as being a mysterious man who is inprisoned in his home. From the stories they have heard by from other people in the town of Maycomb, the children thing he is a strange man who is only seen at night peering into Miss Stephanie Crawfords window. Atticus never speaks about Boo Radley which means the children then think that Atticus is hiding something about Boo Radleys past which the children are curious about. During the chapters where Jem and Scout are finding gifts in the hollowed out tree their views about Boo change. After Jem gethers that it is Boo placing the objects into the bottom of the tree they begin to learn about Boo's history from items such as the spelling bee medal which shows the children that Boo once was a smart, intelligent boy. The broken watch which was placed in the tree ,which in the past belonged to Boo's father, shows that Boo has declined the gift his father gave him showing the children he does not like his father. These things change the childrens view of Boo and change their minds from thinking he is a "malevolent phantom" as Scout refers to him as, to a once normal human being who was smart and intelligent.

__//Ben Jakes//__

At first, in the beginning of the book Jem, Scout, and Dill think that Boo Radley is a deranged lunatic.Miss Stephanie Crawford is the town gossip, and likes to make up and spread rumors. Since Miss Stephanie Crawford has nothing better to do and doesn’t actually know anything about Boo, she likes to make up things. Nobody really knows anything about Boo Radley, because he’s so mysterious and is always inside. They think he’s a deranged lunatic because in the book Stephanie Crawford spreads a rumor saying, “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”(Lee 11). Even though it was just a rumor that Stephanie Crawford spread around, the children believed it. The children believed it because no one has ever met Boo before, so they just based him off of the rumors they heard about him. The rumors gave them the view of them thinking Boo was a deranged lunatic. Then towards the middle of the book the children think he is nice and start to like him.The children start to understand Boo more and realize he’s not that bad of a person. They start receiving things like soap dolls, chewing gum, a spelling bee medal, and an old pocket watch, from a knot hole in a tree. In the book Scout says, “From then on, we considered anything we found in the knot hole our property” (Lee 59). Initially, Jem and Scout didn’t know if the knot hole was someone’s hiding place, so they decided to wait a couple of days to see if anyone came and got the gifts. Since nobody did they just considered everything they found in the knot hole theirs. Scout and Jem understand more about Boo and notice he is not like everyone says. Finally towards the end of the book the children know none of the rumors are true, and really like him. On their way to the pageant and county fair at the school, Cecil Jacobs jumps out and scares them. So on their way back home, when Jem hears a strange noise, they just assume it’s Cecil. They call out and taunts to Cecil, but there was no response. As they start to approach the Radley’s tree they hear someone approaching them at a running pace, when suddenly, Scout falls. Jem tries to save Scout and then the person that attacked Scout attacked Jem. A sudden crunch sound happens, followed by a shrieking pain, then the person starts squeezing Scout. In the book Scout says “Anyways Jem hollered and I didn’t hear him anymore an’ the next thing-- Mr.Ewell was tryin’ to sqeeze me to death, I reckon…..then somebody yanked Mr, Ewell down.” (Lee 270). This means that Mr.Ewell was the one who attacked them and Boo is the one who saved them. Scout knew it was boo who saved them because he was really pale, his thinless, and his colorless eyes. The children realize since Boo saved them, he wasn’t like everybody said.

Kayla Gunter