ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Themes Videos 230 videos

Utopias Becoming Dystopias
29768 Views

This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...

Catching Fire (Part 2)
6719 Views

“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if...

Invisible Man
41453 Views

You’re one in a million, buddy. Er...actually, more like one meaningless speck in a sea of billions. Makes you feel kind of insignificant, right?...

See All

To Kill a Mockingbird: Boo Radley 119873 Views


Share It!


Description:

Is Boo Radley the quintessential creep? Or, is he just isolated and misunderstood, hiding himself away to avoid people's judgment? You decide. He just doesn't belong heeeeeereeeeeee...

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:01

To kill or not to kill, To Kill a Mockingbird. We’ve all had our fair share of creepy neighbors.

00:09

Even our favorite fictional families have creepy neighbors. Take Herbert from Family

00:13

Guy. On a scale of one to creep, this guy is the mayor of Creeptown, USA.

00:19

But one creepy neighbor stands above them all: Boo Radley.

00:22

Boo NEVER comes out of his house. And according to Jem, he’s six and a half

00:27

feet tall. And he has a long, jagged scar across his

00:30

face and rotten, yellow teeth. And Jem says that he spends the better part

00:34

of his days drooling and feasting on squirrels and cats.

00:37

When it walks like a creep, talks like a creep, and acts like a creep, it is a creep. So Boo

00:43

Radley is officially a creep. Or is he? Maybe these are just our perceptions

00:50

of Boo. There are those who perceive Boo Radley as

00:53

a saint. After all, it was Boo who mended a meddling

00:56

Jem’s pants. And it was Boo who protected Scout from getting

00:59

a chill when Miss Maudie’s house burned down.

01:02

And it was Boo who communicated with Jem and Scout by leaving thoughtful gifts in the knothole.

01:06

And yep, you guessed it - it was our old pal Boo who risked life and limb to protect Jem

01:12

from Bob Ewell’s attack. So which is it?

01:14

Is Boo a creeper? Or is Boo a saint?

01:18

It may be all about perspective. Boo Radley is creepy only because we don’t

01:21

really know him. And depending on how you look at someone,

01:24

they can either be super creepy or super sweet. So if Boo is such a fabulous dude, why doesn’t

01:30

he just hang out and let everyone get to know him?

01:33

It’s hard to say, really. Maybe Boo is afraid of how people will treat

01:36

him… Or he’s afraid that people will judge him.

01:39

Or maybe Jem is right… No, not that Jem.

01:42

There you go… Maybe Boo stays inside because he WANTS to

01:46

stay inside. Perhaps after all the years of gossip, scrutiny,

01:49

and ridicule, Boo just doesn’t want be known. But this begs the question: Can you still

01:54

be human without being part of a community? Boo Radley: he’s an enigma, wrapped in a

01:59

mystery, tucked into phyllo dough, and then stuffed with spinach.

02:03

But he ain’t no creeper. He’s just misunderstood.

02:06

And yes, there’s an important lesson to be learned from all of this.

02:08

You can’t judge a book by its cover. Because after all, wasn’t Harper Lee a little

02:13

like Boo? Aren’t we ALL a little like Boo?

02:17

Shmoop amongst yourselves…

Related Videos

Utopias Becoming Dystopias
29768 Views

This video defines utopias and dystopias, and investigates how a utopia might become a dystopia. Can a seemingly perfect world actually be a dystop...

Shakespeare on Love
17379 Views

We may all be fools when it comes to love, but thankfully none of us will accidentally switch places with our twin brother and fall in love with ou...

The Importance of Being Earnest Summary
123039 Views

They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...

The Giver Summary
105893 Views

Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...

Invisible Man (Ellison)
1818 Views

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.