Ms. Lee has come a long way to create this carefully sustained mystery novel that she calls “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Harper Lee describes her quiet Southern town as surprising you with a climax so startling it could be described as a lava eruption of emotion. In this melodramatic novel, the most unforgettable character, in my opinion, was Arthur Radley (AKA Boo). Boo can be characterized as lonely, misunderstood, and somewhat parental. In the rest of this essay I will explain to demonstrate why these traits are true. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First of all, Boo Radley lives in isolation. Arthur's father was a Baptist footwasher and according to Miss. Maudie "Footwashers believe that everything that is pleasure is a sin." (page 44). This could have pushed Boo to stay inside. Jem seems to understand why Boo lives in seclusion when he tells Scout "I think I'm starting to understand why Boo Radley's been stuck in the house all this time... it's because he wants to stay inside." (page 227). When Scout first meets Arthur, she sees that he is a man who never goes out, as she notices that "he had sickly white hands that had never seen the sun..." (pg.270). Boo's shyness also shows signs of loneliness. For example, when Arthur asks Scout "'Will you take me home?' He almost whispered it, in the voice of a child who is afraid of the dark” (p. 278). In addition to being secluded, he is also misunderstood. False rumors have spread in Maycomb, influencing everyone's opinion of Boo Radley , when Jem first met Dill, “Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was 6 1/2 feet tall…he ate all the raw squirrels and cats he could catch…you could never wash the blood off . ..there was a big scar running across his face...his eyes were bugging out and he was drooling most of the time."(p.13). Of course this wasn't true and the children were quite scared. In a 'occasion, Miss Maudie tells Scout "Miss Stephanie told me that one time she woke up in the middle of the night and found him looking at her from the window... I told her what you did, move over and make room for him." (pg.45) Another example of misunderstanding would be when Scout, as the narrator, says "Inside that house lives a malevolent ghost...people say he used to come out at night...and peek in the windows ... furtively the petty crimes committed in Maycomb were his doing. Radley's pecans would kill you... a baseball hit in the Radley backyard was a lost ball, and no questions asked" (pg. 8-9) Besides being lonely and misunderstood, it's also parental. A very symbolic moment in the story that represents a lot of parenting was when Boo puts the blanket on Scout Atticus told Scout and Jem that it was “Boo Radley. You were so busy watching the fire that you didn't notice when it wrapped you in the blanket." (p.72). Boo also shows the courage and kindness that a true parent would give when saving the children from the evil clutches of Bob Ewell . Heck Tate informs Atticus that “Bob Ewell lies on the ground… with a kitchen knife stuck under his ribs” (pg. 266) evidence that Arthur Radley did this is simply because he foreshadows the event where “Boo stabbed the scissors in her parents' leg..." (pg. 11). Scout concludes Boo's kindness and care by saying, "He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a couple of lucky pennies, and our lives... we never gave him anything, he made me sad" (p.278 )... It was summer and his [Boo's] children were playing in their friend's yard... Summer, and".