Monday, September 14, 2015

In To Kill a Mockingbird, what did Arthur (Boo) Radley do that landed him temporarily in the county jail?

Most of the information that Jem and Scout receive about Boo Radley is from Miss Stephanie Crawford, the town gossip. However, from the evidence in chapter one, it says that Boo Radley was hanging out with a bunch of the Cunninghams when they resisted arrest and put Mr. Conner in the Courthouse outhouse, not the other way around. Then, when Mr. Conner brought up charges against the boys who had been driving around backwards in the square, and who put him in the outhouse, the judge sent the boys to a "state industrial school." Mr. Radley thought that was like prison and asked to have Boo released to him with the promise that it would never happen again. That is when Boo's home imprisonment began.


After the scissors incident, Mr. Radley said it might be good to lock Boo up, but not to charge him with anything because he isn't a criminal. Mr. Radley also refused to send Boo to a mental asylum. "The sheriff hadn't the heart to put him in jail alongside Negroes, so Boo was locked in the courthouse basement" (11). The evidence clearly states that Boo did not go to jail, but to the courthouse basement instead. Due to mold in the basement and the cost to house Boo there, the county asked Mr. Radley to take him back after a while. So, no--Boo Radley never went to the county jail. If he had gone to jail it would have been after the scissors incident and not after the joyriding one. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

What is the main function of the fool in "King Lear"? What is the secondly function?

The fool as a character is confusing, but part of this is the difference between the 1600s and today, as well as the difference in place. If...