Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Letter to Dill

Good Essays
503 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Letter to Dill
Letter to Dill
To My Dearest Dill, So much has happened since you’ve left. I mean it all pretty much start ed with Tom Robinson’s death. But you already knew about that. But a lot has happened to me and Jem. But I’ll tell you that in a minute. Well, it started out with the Halloween pageant. You’ll never guess what I was. I was the ham! The costume was really hot and big. It wasn’t very comfortable. The bad things started during the pageant. I was supposed to wait for my signal for me to go out on stage, and I missed it! I was so mad at myself! I didn’t want anybody to see me the rest of the night. Then, me and Jem was walkin’ home, and we heard some feet rustlin’ behind us. We thought it was that darn Cecil Jacobs. But then we figured out it wasn’t him. Well we would stop, and then the feet would stop. Then we would go, and the feet would go. But one time we stopped and the feet did not stop. Turns out someone was tryin’ to attack us! First they came after me, but couldn’t really get to me cause my costume was in the way. Well then, I guess Jem got on top of ‘em. And the man rung Jem like a chicken! Then. I saw someone get on top of the other man. But I couldn’t tell exactly who it was. But then I saw them carry Jem into our house. By the time I got to our house, Jem was in his bed lookin’ like he was sleppin’. I asked Atticus if he was dead. But Atticus said he wasn’t, he was just unconscience. Well then, Heck Tate came over and started askin’ me all these questions. He asked if I knew who it was that fought off the first guy, and I said, “Well there he is, right behind the door.” You’ll never guess who it was! It was Boo Radley! We thought he was scary and weird, but it turns out he was our hero! Mr. Heck Tate went out to the spot where the crime was, and there was Bob Ewell. It turns he was the one tryin’ to kill us! But Heck Tate said Mr. Ewell, tripped and stabbed himself with his own knife in his ribs. But Atticus thought it was Jem doin’ self defense, but Heck Tate said that he tripped and did it himself for sure.

But after Heck Tate left, I walked Boo or Arthur, his real name, over to his house, and never saw him again. Jem has a badly broken arm, but the doctor said it should heal quickly. And Jem says hi. So I hope you come back to Maycomb real soon, so I can see you. Please write back, I want to hear what’s goin’ on with you.

Love Always, Scout Finch.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    During the fire at Miss Maudie’s house, Scout and Jem, unknowingly, was given a blanket to keep warm. When the Finches plus Miss Maudie return to their home, Scout asks who she should thank for the blanket. Jem proceeded to answer that it was most likely Boo Radley’s doing. This starts a confliction between Scout and her beliefs. Scout has always thought of Boo Radley through the mind of a child, a story that stole her attention. But when she witnessed Boo Radley doing something kind and thoughtful, she found herself shocked and unbelieving. “My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up when Jem held out the blanket and crept toward me.” (Lee 96). At this moment, Scout realized how real and human Boo Radley and altered her view of the man.…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Boo Radley Analysis

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jem is drawn to Boo’s story, which he has heard all of his life. Townsfolk tell stories of Boo coming out at night and peeping through peoples’ windows, freezing their azaleas by breathing on them, and terrorizing household pets. When Atticus refuses to give Jem details about the Radleys, Jem turns to Miss Stephanie Crawford, the neighborhood gossip. She talks about Boo saying she “woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Boo Radley Journal

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Boo was locked up in the bottom of the courthouse for awhile because of this but after he came home no one ever saw him. Another reason the kids will never see him are the kids are too scared of him. Jem and Scout claim that there is a malevolent phantom living in the house otherwise known as Boo Radley. Apparently, one time Miss Stephanie Crawford woke up in the middle of the night and saw Boo Radley looking directly toward her through his window. Jem adds that Boo was scratching at their back screen late at night but was gone way before Atticus could catch him. Jem told Dill if he knocked on the Radley’s door he would definitely wind up dead. This started a chain of events where Dill dared Jem to go knock claiming that Jem was scared. Of course Jem wanted to prove to Dill he wasn’t scared of Boo Radley so, he ran through the yard slapped the house and came running back even faster. After he ran through the yard and back Scout and Dill followed right at his heels back home. They all were afraid of getting caught by Boo Radley so they ran all the way home. Jem, Scout, and Dill made…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Luckily Boo Radley saw everything and killed Bob Ewell, stabbing him “under his ribs” (Lee 357). Tate intends to hide the murder, camouflaging it as an accident or suicide whereby “Bob Ewell fell on his knife” (Lee 366). Atticus argues that hiding the murder would be unethical…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During Atticus’ and Heck Tate’s argument, neither one of them really believes what what they are saying because the story of Bob Ewell falling on a kitchen knife and killing himself sounds really improbable and when Atticus discovers that Heck Tate is talking about Boo killing Bob, he doesn’t really believe that he is “hushing” anything if it is for the greater good of keeping Boo protected.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Scout believes Boo Radley to be a “six-and-a-half feet tall [man],[who had blood-stained hands and drooled]” (1.65). Later, Scout meets Boo and is surprised that he’s not this giant zombie but was a kind, gentle, and curious man. When Atticus sees that Arthur killed Bob Ewell he wants to announce him as hero. But Heck Tate sees the harm: “Taking the one man who's done you and this town a great service an' draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight, that's a sin." (30.369) Scout understands Heck Tate’s reasoning: "Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" (30. 370) At that moment we see the big change in Scout. She has learned what her dad has taught her how “... it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." (10.119) Scout realizes the whole point of Boo Radley’s life, just like a mockingbird is harmless, all he ever did was bring presents and guard them from harm. He didn't ruin anyone's property, or act…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comparison Tkam

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Harper Lee compares Boo Radley as a caring person rather than a monster. Many people think that he is weird, isolated, and unaffectionate, however; Boo Radley is characterized as a man who cares about people in his community. “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you.” (72) Boo Radley places a blanket over Scout and Jem while they are watching the fire. Boo Radley However, when Atticus told them that Boo had placed the blanket, the kids thought that the fact that they were behind him the whole time, was creepy. "He always spoke nicely to me, no matter what folks said he did. Spoke as nicely as he knew how. You reckon he’s crazy? Miss Maudie shook her head.” (46) Miss Maudie characterizes Boo Radley as a nice and caring…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The mysterious neighbor to them, never seen but always there watching. When they first introduced Boo, they feared him until they became to ridicule what they did not know. Scout and Jems maturation process is facilitated by how they handle and overcome their fear of Boo Radley, the towns “boogey man”. When Miss Maudie’s house flamed up Scout and Jem stood by the Radley fence, throughout the night someone came and covered Scouts back with a blanket; it was Boo Radley. That was the first night that Jem started to realize Boo is as pure as a mockingbird, just misunderstood. In the conversation- “Mr. Tate was right…’what do you mean?… 'Well, it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?'" (Scout, p.276) took place, it showed insight to a deeper level of thinking that the kids had developed- metaphoric understanding. Jem knew they were wrong about Boo when Boo had stitched up his pants leaving them on the fence for Jem to find and when he did, he cried an emotional silent cry of remorse for they had contributed to the ridicule Boo endured. With this new understanding in chapter twenty three Jem enlightens Scout why Boo doesn’t leave his house; he doesn’t want to, it’s a confusing corrupt world he’d rather not live in. In a way Boo had taught Scout how to empathize with people. As she was escorted by him to his porch she stood there with tears filling her eyes for the man who saved their lives. Empathetic as she gazed the yard “in his shoes” watching memories from the past three…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Atticus Role Model

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages

    He wants to get revenge on Atticus by hurting what he loves most--his children. On Halloween night, Scout and Jem are walking home from their school’s annual Halloween play when a drunken Bob Ewell abruptly attacks Scout and Jem. Scout recalls the incident and explains to Heck Tate, the sheriff, that “…all of a sudden somethin’ grabbed an’ mashed my costume…think I ducked on the ground…heard a tusslin’ under the tree sort of…they were bammin’ against the trunk, sounded like. Jem found me and started pullin’ me toward the road. Some—Mr. Ewell yanked him down, I reckon. They tussled some more and then there was this funny noise—Jem hollered…” (273). Scout later finds out that Boo saved them from Mr. Ewell, who was planning to kill them. Heck Tate tells Atticus that in the paper they will not mention that Boo Radley saved the children. Scout does not understand why they would not give Boo credit, since he saved their lives. After reflecting on the situation, she figures out that putting the truth in the paper would be like killing a mockingbird. There was a reason why Boo went inside his house and never came out, and acknowledging Boo in the paper would give him a lot of unwanted attention. Through this experience, Scout learns to respect other’s wishes. Also, because Boo turns out to be something completely different from what was expected, Scout…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atticus Finch Integrity

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages

    After Jem and Scout were attacked, Scout describes what happened to Heck Tate. She says, “Mr. Ewell yanked him down ... Then someone yanked Mr. Ewell down” (361). Although Boo Radley is a recluse, he has tremendous courage and this is shown when he saves Jem and Scout from Bob Ewell. As Scout recollects the evening’s events she says, “The scuffling noises were dying but I heard someone wheezing ... I began walking toward the road and I could see a man walking towards my house carrying Jem” (359). Due to his courage, Boo Radley is not only able to stop Bob Ewell from hurting Jem and Scout, but also throws himself into the limelight by showing himself to Heck Tate and Atticus. If he lacked courage then he would not have been able to be selfless in Jem and Scout’s time of need and they would have been severely injured or may have died. When Atticus is talking about telling the townspeople that Boo saved his children Heck Tate says, “To take the one man who’s done you and this town a service and draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight is a sin” (363). Most people who had done something like Boo would want to be recognized, but he has the “courage” to go unrecognized and wishes not to be thanked for his actions. These are all examples of how Boo Radley’s courage allows him to be selfless.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Instead of letting Bob kill the kids, Boo Radley, who hasn’t been seen in public for years, saves the children in a brave, heroic act. The local sheriff, Heck Tate, decides that with Boo’s shyness it would be cruel to let him receive the press that comes with being a local hero, so he makes a false story where Bob Ewell tripped on his knife. Atticus refuses the idea immediately, but Scout agrees, explaining that if they do that to Boo “it’d sort of be like shootin’ a mockingbird” because Boo is shy and any attention would be a punishment. In the story Boo Radley and Tom Robinson are two characters who symbolize…

    • 698 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A few days later we heard about a tragedy that happened. Mr. Ewell tried to attack Jem and Scout on the way home from the play. Apparently he was drunk and fell on his own knife but there was talk that Boo Radley came and saved their lives, and in the process killin Mr. Ewell. Either way I’m…

    • 415 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dill to Scout

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How is life in Maycomb without my presence? I reckon Scout ain’t got no other man in her life other than…

    • 630 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jem shows true courage when he touches the wall of Boo Radley’s house. Jem states that “I hope you’ve got it through your head that he’ll kill us each and every one [...] Don’t blame me when he gouges your eyes out.” (17). This quote demonstrates the fear Jem has of the Radley house and Boo Radley. His childhood has been filled with rumors of how evil Arthur (Boo) Radley is, like “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained” (16), and that he has stabbed his father, Mr. Radley (13). Although these scare him, Jem wants to stand up for himself by not letting down a dare. He accepts Dill’s challenge and is able to face his fears by touching the house of the Radleys. Jem shows courage again when he goes to help Mrs. Dubose even though she has insulted their family and, to Jem, is a terrifying elderly woman. This is reflected where Jem states, “Atticus, it’s all right on the sidewalk but inside it’s - it’s all dark and creepy. There’s shadows and things on the ceiling…” (140). Jem is afraid of Mrs. Dubose as much as he is afraid of Boo. In spite of this, Jem enters her house when told by his father, Atticus Finch. He was able to sit right by her every evening for more than a month. Throughout the novel, Jem has had a fear of many characters like Boo and Mrs. Dubose. However, he was able to overcome those fears, although some were…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hi Morrie! After I learned about your story, I was really touched. Your philosophies and ideas were so transcendent; I felt as though I was learning the story about some higher being. I learned a lot about the meaning of life and what things are really important to me in my life. It helped me see a lot of things I couldn’t see in other people nowadays.…

    • 634 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics