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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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of his days drooling and feasting on squirrels and cats.

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

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

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of Boo. There are those who perceive Boo Radley as

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

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

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a chill when Miss Maudie’s house burned down.

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

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

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

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Is Boo a creeper? Or is Boo a saint?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Shmoop amongst yourselves…

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