Boo+Radley+-+language

Boo Radley’s character and the language used changes throughout Harper Lee’s novel. In the beginning Boo has been completely alienated from the rest of Maycomb, due to circumstances with his family. Therefore this leaves the reader with a sense of uncertainty towards Boo’s past and the reasons for his confinement in the Radley household. Within the first few pages of the book, nasty yet maybe exaggerated language is used towards Boo. Scout refers to him as the ‘malevolent phantom’ who is an outsider to the rest of Maycomb. This makes people believe that Boo is a creepy, ghostly figure, capable of evil doings. But it also suggests that there is more to Boo than meets the eye. When Scout says this she, along with most of Maycomb, has never even met Boo before and gets her superstitions mainly from the rest of the rumours spread around Maycomb, for example some even said that he ‘peeped in windows’ when the ‘moon was high’. The fact that she is a young child also suggests that her imagination probably controls most of what she says anyway. I think that Harper Lee included this language towards Boo as a way of getting across that you shouldn’t judge people until you really know them. In this case Boo is perceived in a certain way because the people of Maycomb County are just nosy and contemplate the truth with their own, and sometimes malicious, theories.

Although by the end of the novel Boo is seen in a completely different light as the real Boo Radley is revealed. This means that different language is used towards him as the characters have changed their views. Boo ends up saving Jem and Scout from being attacked by Bob Ewell who ‘meant business’ to harm them. At first Scout isn’t sure who it was carrying an injured Jem home, but once inside she sees the shy, timid Boo Radley hiding in the corner. From then on Scout’s perceptions and the language used changes. She doesn’t see him as the ‘malevolent phantom’ anymore; instead she even refers to him as a ‘gentleman’ when she walks him home. This has proved that you shouldn’t judge anyone until you know them as scout saw Boo as a monster at the beginning, but by the end she sees that he’s actually caring enough to save her and Jem’s lives. After all the rumours spread about him, Boo had the courage to step out and help the children when no one else was around, disregarding the fact that he hadn’t been out the Radley House for over fifteen years. This shows that he isn’t capable of evil doings; he is just misunderstood as no one knows what his life has been like, and he wanted to make sure that Jem and Scout got to grow up happily, whereas his life was suspended by his own father.

Hanna Lane

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Throughout the 'To Kill a Mockingbird' the message that Harper Lee is trying to convey about Boo Radley is very clear. She implies that Boo is some sort of monster, as Scout describes him as a 'malevolent phantom' and Jem refers to him as having a limp, more commonly seen on characters such as Frankenstein, as well as a being six-and-a-half feet tall with a face covered in scars. This shows that the children are scared of him, and also shows that they both have very vivid imaginations. Lee also uses an element of suprise to keep the reader forever in suspense as to Boo's appearence and personality. She uses the fact that he has been locked away for 15 years as an advantage, as it allows residents of Maycomb to conjure up their own stories and stereotypes for Boo, which makes him even more of a mystery to everyone, and also suggests that Boo is more of a ghostly presence in Maycomb. Miss Stephanie Crawford particularly influence's Scouts veiw of Boo Radley, as she is a child and finds it difficult to understand this complex and misinterpreted character. However towards the end of the novel, everyone's perception of Boo changes. As Scout grows up, she becomes far more understanding of Boo and his situation. She says 'Boo doesn't mean anybody any harm' and this implies that through Lee's subtle hints and events that reflect Boo's personality, Scout has learnt to comprehend Boo, and even empathise with his life.====== -Emily Jeram

The language used to portray Boo Radley at the beginning of the book completely differs to what he is shown as at the end of the book. Harper Lee made Boo Radley sound like a monster through one of the descriptions that Jem told Scout about him, ' he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were blood stained'; this description is very sinicter and because its Jem thats describing him it, it makes it even worse as even the young children of the neighbourd who really hardly know him, find him extremely frightful and beast like. However, characters such as Calpurnia who isn't mentioned much in the novel does show different views towards Boo as when his father Mr Radley walked past her house she said ' there goes the meanest man ever God blew breath into' and she spat into the yard. I think this shows that she strongley disagree's with what he has done to Boo; that locking him away for 15 years was the cruelest thing any father could do to his son and she shows this so boldly by the spitting on the yard and basically saying God was wrong to breath air into such a mean man. Not only that, but she most probably understands that Boo is misunderstood boy/man (as shown through the novel) and that is why she finds it so wrong. The Maycomb county people stereotyped all the boys when they were younger and playing around together, then when they all went their seperate ways through being split up those stereotypes stayed and Boo was labelled for the rest of his life, although he was now an adult, conspiracies and dark stories continued to conjer up about him although he had been locked away from society for 15 years, and i think that is why he is portrayed so beastly and vicious at the start as no one understood him, but by the end the younger children had matured and learned more about him, therefore changing their opinions. Chloe Dawson. :)