In Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the reclusive Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell to save Scout and Jem from Ewell's attack, though Sheriff Heck Tate covered it up by saying Ewell fell on his own knife to protect Boo from public scrutiny and a trial.
[2] His mind broken, Boo eventually stabbed his father with a pair of scissors and was briefly placed in the town jail.
At the story's conclusion, Sheriff Tate asserts that Mr. Bob Ewell fell on his own knife while assaulting Jem and Scout, killing himself in the process. However, we can infer from the text that this was not what truly occurred; instead, Boo Radley stabbed and killed Mr. Ewell in defense of the Finch children.
As the men argue, Atticus realizes that Boo Radley killed Ewell, and it is Boo who Tate is trying to protect. They finally agree that Ewell did fall on his own knife, a decision Scout fully understands. Boo sees Jem one more time and then asks Scout to take him home.
Heck's motive, of course, is to protect Boo, the children's reclusive, awkward, ghost-like neighbor. Ultimately, Boo—if he killed Bob Ewell—would be acquitted of the murder charge he'd face, but in the interim, he'd be subjected to a trial and then to a storm of appreciation from the town folk.
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the people in Maycomb believe Boo is a threat, but the reality is that they misunderstand him because he falls somewhere on the autism spectrum, which medical professionals do not thoroughly grasp in the 1960's.
Atticus tells her that Boo's real name is Arthur. Even though Atticus believes it is Jem who has accidently killed Bob Ewell, he is determined that the cause of Ewell's death must not be hushed up. But Heck Tate, who realises it was actually Boo, insists that everyone will be told that Bob Ewell fell on his knife.
While investigating, the sheriff, Mr. Heck Tate, found Bob Ewell stabbed to death with a kitchen knife under the tree where he attacked Jem and Scout. In Chapter 29, Mr. Tate asks Scout to share her memory of what happened.
When Boo Radley is arrested as a juvenile, he is shut away from society by his father. As a result, Boo no longer socializes with others as he did as a teenager, and his resentment of his father's mistreatment leads him to stab his father in the leg.
Scout falls asleep and wakes when Atticus nudges her with his toe. She mutters the gist of the story as Atticus leads her to bed, puts on her pajamas, and tucks her in.
Robert Ewell has a score to settle with Atticus, blaming him when he loses a new job. Judge Taylor's house is broken into, probably by Robert Ewell. Helen Robinson is also followed and threatened by Ewell.
Scout takes Boo upstairs to say goodnight to Jem and then walks him home. He goes inside his house, and she never sees him again. But, for just a moment, she imagines the world from his perspective.
Heck Tate claims that Bob Ewell's death was self-inflicted primarily to protect Boo Radley from legal implications after Bob attacked Jem and Scout. This is partly true because Bob's aggressive actions led to his own demise during the struggle.
Miss Maudie Atkinson -
The Finches' neighbor, a sharp-tongued widow, and an old friend of the family. Miss Maudie is almost the same age as Atticus's younger brother, Jack. She shares Atticus's passion for justice and is the children's best friend among Maycomb's adults.
Jem begins the novel at around the age of 10 and ends the novel at age 13.
According to Miss Stephanie Crawford, Boo stabbed his father in the leg with a pair of scissors while he was clipping items from the Maycomb Tribune. According to Miss Stephanie, Boo's parents refused to put him in an asylum, and Boo wasn't charged with anything following the stabbing.
The first concerns Boo, a young man who has Asperger's syndrome, a condition he shares with the actor playing him (Jonathan Ide). Boo lives a concealed house-bound life with his older brother, Benny (Alan Clay), who looks after him.
Boo symbolizes one of the mockingbirds in the novel, which represent innocence and goodness. However, giving him credit for his heroic acts would ultimately hurt him, as his solitude is what defines him most.
When Jem was 6 years old, and Scout was 2, Jean died of a heart attack, a fatal heart condition that runs in her family.
The book is set 20 years after the events described in Lee's earlier Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Lee never married and had no children. Her closest living relatives are nieces and nephews. The author died on 19 February in Monroeville and was buried the next day in a private funeral ceremony.
Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible.
The bird represents innocence and goodness, as explained by Atticus Finch when he tells his children that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because they do nothing but make music for people to enjoy. Mockingbirds in the novel symbolize people who are innocent but are harmed by evil or injustice.
She tells Scout that Boo Radley is still alive and it is her theory Boo is the victim of a harsh father (now deceased), a “foot-washing” Baptist who believed that most people are going to hell. Miss Maudie adds that Boo was always polite and friendly as a child.
Atticus, Heck Tate, Arthur (Boo) Radley and Scout go out onto the porch. Atticus does not understand why Heck is insisting that Bob Ewell fell on his knife and believes that the incident must go to court. He eventually understands that Heck is trying to protect Boo Radley's privacy.
Atticus is adamantly against lying to protect Jem. He thinks that protecting Jem from the law will undermine Atticus's relationship with his children and everything that he has taught them. Heck, however, realizes that Boo killed Bob Ewell, and wants to cover up the truth to protect Boo.