What Makes Boo Radley not Supporting Character But Hero

Boo Radley the Hero

Harper Lee creates a supporting character in her novel To Kill A Mockingbird who is unique because the reader does not meet him until the end of the story. Throughout the book, we discover qualities about him by means of rumor, fact and observance. Boo Radley is a neighbor to the main character, Scout. Her presupposition of him is that he is a cruel and frightening man. As the story progresses, she is not sure what to believe about him. She finds out at the end when an eye-opening experience brings them face to face.

In the beginning, Scout’s relationship with him is very cold and distant. Boo never comes out of his house, so very few know what he looks like. This creates much space for fantasy of what he may look like. Rumors had it that at night he would prowl around looking into people’s windows, and that he ate cats and squirrels. Scout, along with her brother and friend, are scared of Boo, but curious enough try to find out more about him and see if they can get a glimpse of him, only to fail. During one attempt to peek inside his house, they see a shadow of a tall man and run away. This encourages them to stay away and pursue him no longer.

After trying to look inside Boo Radley’s house and encountering a frightening shadow, the children make a run for it. While trying to escape, Jem, Scout’s brother, loses his pants on the fence. The next day, he decides to come back for them, only to find them mended, folded and

draped across the fence. He is surprised and perplexed, not knowing what to think. The idea of Boo Radley making a kind gesture towards them doesn’t make sense to him. His confusion continues when he and Scout start to find little treasures in the knot-hole in the tree next to their house. They collect miniature figurines, gum, a watch, and string all from that hole in the tree and finally realize that Boo has left those gifts there for them over time. They ponder the idea of Boo as a friend instead of a villain.

The climax of To Kill A Mockingbird occurs near the end of the book and features Boo Radley. Scout and Jem are walking home on Halloween night alone. It is very dark, and they are approaching their street where the lamp is. Just before they reach the light, someone attacks them from behind. Scout gets the breath knocked out of her, and Jem’s arm is broken. In this whole scene, someone else intervenes, stabbing the attacker and carrying Jem inside. The children’s father, the sheriff and the doctor all congregate at Scout and Jem’s house. They are both cared for. In the midst of all the commotion, Scout doesn’t notice a man standing in the corner of the room. She sees him out of the corner of her eye but ignores him. She knows that he rescued Jem, but paid no more heed. Once things had settled down, the adults began to discuss legal disputes and who killed the attacker. When the man came forward, Scout looked in his eyes and realized she was staring into the face of Boo Radley.

Scout has learned many a lesson by the time we reach the end of the novel. The last one told is definitely the greatest. What happened that night after the attack was remarkable. Boo Radley was the one who killed the attacker and saved the children. He was guilty of murder. Yet, the decision the sheriff made that night to direct the blame away from Boo was wise indeed. The

verdict was the attacker fell on his knife, and that was it. Instead of pointing a finger at Boo and letting him commit social suicide, he made the right call. Boo Radley symbolizes goodness and innocence that is covered up by people’s mouths. Their rumors and stories about him created such a negative reputation that his kind heart was overlooked. To not recognize his murder as protection and proclaim him guilty would be extremely inconsiderate. Scout and Jem’s father mentions in the book that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because all they do is sing for us and cause no harm to anyone. Boo represents a mockingbird in this situation. Scout realizes this at the end, dramatically developing her character and his. She matures and their relationship grows. This is where the title of the novel comes into play, for it would be a sin to kill a mockingbird like Boo, because he is innocent.