Boo Radley's Childhood

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A recurring theme in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960 by Harper Lee, is that you can never fully understand a person until you consider things from their point of view. “‘If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it,”” (Lee 29). To Kill a Mockingbird tells a story from the point of view of a young girl, Scout, during the great depression. Her naive yet incredibly intelligent mind was still far too young to understand the hardships that those around her family were going through. With racism very much alive, Atticus, Scout’s father, was…show more content…
Boo was a young man that was disassociated from the outside world, at a young age due to a reckless childhood. Scout, Jem, and their diminutive companion Dill, had puerile imaginations of Boo. “He goes out, all right, when it’s pitch dark… I’ve seen his tracks in our back yard many a mornin’, and one night I heard him scratching on the back screen, but he was gone time Atticus got there” (Lee 16). Owing to the fact that no one had come across Boo in numerous years, the rumors about him had become somewhat ludicrous. The children were forced to acknowledge several false rumors regarding Boo when the children were put into a dangerous situation, and Boo was the only person that could assist them. “We were nearly to the road when I felt Jem’s hand leave me, felt him jerk backwards to the ground. More scuffling, and there came a dull crunching sound and Jem screamed... The scuffling noises were dying; someone wheezed and the night was still again. Still but for a man breathing heavily, breathing heavily and staggering” (Lee 351). After Boo rescued Jem and Scout from the man trying desperately to hurt them. They realised that Boo wasn’t as frightening as they once believed, and that he was just a nervous man that was unable to act normally due to innumerable years without…show more content…
Racism was a struggle during the depression, children such as Scout and Jem, were not aware of much besides what they witnessed at school or on the streets. “Scout, you aren’t old enough to understand some things yet, but there’s been some high talk around town to the effect that I shouldn’t do much about defending this man,” (Lee 27). When the case is taken to court Scout and Jem realize Tom Robinson’s innocence, and understand the true effect of racism. “‘Guilty… guilty… guilty… guilty…” I peeked at Jem: his hands were white from gripping the balcony rail, and his shoulders jerked as if each “guilty” was a separate stab between them,’” (Lee 215). As Scout considers life from Tom’s point of view she becomes aware of how unfair life is for black men and
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