To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee :: essays research papers

How does Scout and Jem’s perception of Boo Radley change during the novel? How does Boo affect the lives of the Finch household in the novel? Boo Radley is the neighborhood mystery. The Radley place fascinated the children, because it was a popular subject of gossip and superstition in Maycomb. Arthur Radley had gotten into trouble with the law when he was a boy. Instead of being sent to the state industrial school, his father took custody of him within their house. He was not seen again for fifteen years. Many legends grew up about the Radley house and about what went on inside. Miss Stephanie Crawford, added to the stories - which included stories of crime, mutilation, curses and insanity. Dill was fascinated by these stories, and gave Scout and Jem the idea of making Boo Radley come out of seclusion. When Dill, always eager for a new adventure, dares Jem to run up to the house and touch the door. Jem thought things over for a few days. Finally, filled with fear, he accepted the dare. He ran up, touched the house, and ran back. As the three children stared at the old house, they thought they saw an inside shutter move. On the last night that Dill was in Maycomb they decided to go to the Radley place to take a peak in one of the windows. When they were there, they saw a shadow of a man pass, they ran and while they were running they were fired upon by a shotgun, Jem got his pants caught in the fence. He took them off and they ran back to the woods. About 10 minutes later the neighborhood was gathered outside the Radley place. The adults asked Jem, Scout, and Dill where they had been, Jem told them they were playing strip poker and that was how he had lost his pants. Later that night Jem made a run for his pants he found them neatly folded and sew on the fence. Scout and Jem start to find things in a tree right outside the Radley house, they find different trinkets such as a watch, a knife, and some figures that look like them. When they were walking by one day, Mr. Radley was putting cement in the tree’s hole, he said it was sick and that it needed to be filled. So that ended the gifts in the tree.