Boo Radley Character Traits

Boo Radley is a character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, who shows kindness and innocence when he leaves objects inside of the tree for Jem and Scout. He is also not able to do anything about people spreading rumors about him. He is very misunderstood at the beginning of the novel and is portrayed as a mean person because of the rumor that had been spread around saying that he had stabbed his father in the leg. Boo Radley shows his kindness and innocence in many ways throughout the novel, such as when he saves Jem and Scout, and when people talk about him even though they do not really know him. Boo Radley is a kind, but mysterious man. He almost never leaves his house, but still tries to interact with Jem and Scout and be kind to them. He does this by leaving little gifts or items in the oak tree by his house for them to find. Another time that Boo Radley shows is kindness is when he folds and leaves Jem’s pants on the fence for him. “When I went back for my breeches, they were all in a tangle when I was gettin’ out of ’em, I couldn’t get ’em loose. When I went back, they were folded across the fence… like they were expectin’ me.” (Page 78).

Another way that Boo Radley shows his kindness is when Scout is watching Miss Maudie’s house on fire, he puts a blanket on Scout, and she does not notice until she gets back home and Atticus says “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire, you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (Page 96). He also shows his kindness by saving Jem and Scout near the end of the novel from Mr. Ewell when he tries to kill them. All together, Boo Radley is a very kind person. Boo Radley is also an innocent man and represents one of the mockingbirds of the novel. He is innocent because he almost never steps outside of the doors of his house. Even though he never leaves his house, people talk about, and even spread rumors about him.

He is one of the mockingbirds of the novel because he was accused for something he did not do, which was stab his father in the leg. This rumor was started by Miss Stephanie, who had claimed that she had seen him stab his father in the leg (Page 13). Even though he had killed Mr. Ewells, he had done so in order to save Jem and Scout, which also shows his innocence. All together, Boo Radley is an innocent man. Boo Radley shows both traits of being kind and innocent all throughout the novel. He is an innocent mockingbird and is kind to the people of Maycomb in ways they do not realize. Overall, he is both a kind and innocent man.