I haven't written for a while. Being busy and stuff. I don't want to write about me, though. If you know me, you know I love the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. That book has heroes and villains. Some of the greatest people have the worst situations thrust upon them, yet they pull through. Atticus Finch. Heck Tate. Judge Taylor. Tom Robinson. Arthur Radley. But those people won't really be the focus of what I am writing about tonight. I want to write a paper about a man who dies in the first chapter of the book. A man who literally never talks in the whole novel. A man whose first name we don't even learn: Mr. Radley.
The first time through the book To Kill a Mockingbird, it is very easy for one to think that Mr. Radley is a rigid, total jerk. In fact, having read this novel over ten times, I can tell you that that perspective is probably going to stick. I never thought about it, really. He was a jerk and he died. Done deal. However, I have been thinking about it. I have really been thinking about it. To the point that now when I think about Mr. Radley, I tear up. I submit to you that Mr. Radley was as great of a man as Atticus Finch. The only difference was that he had a rougher situation.
Here is a little thought I had that you probably haven't considered (I say that because I just barely thought of it and that was on a fluke): Arthur Radley was mentally handicapped. Now mind you, I don't mean that he had a lot of disabilities; maybe just a little autism. The book takes place in the 1930's in the South. Heck, this was a time when they hardly understood that skin color didn't change the worth of a person. They almost definitely didn't understand mental illness. Now keep that in mind as we go on.
Mr. Radley was said to be devoutly religious. A man whose only law was the law of God. A man who was most likely extremely happy to have a healthy baby boy, Nathan. A man who was probably extremely distraught when his second son, Arthur, was born with problems he didn't understand. A man who probably prayed to God asking why he had been given this unsolvable trial. A man whose already stiff living became stiffer, thinking he had done something to upset God. His children grew up living fairly normal lives, his younger sons slight disability not too noticeable, but just noticeable enough for Mr. Radley to want to change it yet was unable to do so. Mr. Radley was aware that his younger son did not have many friends. He was sad that his son was so distant. Then finally Arthur got some friends. Mr. Radley didn't care who these kids were; they were friends with Arthur and that was good enough. His son was finally normal and Mr. Radley was so happy. He really loved Arthur.
That's why the arrest came as such a shock. It wasn't as bad as everyone said it was. Small towns always blow things out of proportions. The biggest problem was not the charges. The court wanted the boys to be sent to a correctional school. But Mr. Radley knew better than most: Arthur wouldn't do well there. He just wouldn't be able to make it with all his special needs. Not only that, but ever since the incident (of which he was just an observer), Arthur was scared. Mr. Radley told the courts that he would never send his son to that school. People took it as a sign of pride, but it didn't matter. The thing was, Arthur didn't need to be encouraged to stay indoors. He was scared. His simple mind couldn't think of anything outside of his house that was good.
After Nathan moved out, the Radley's reached a very easy point in their lives. Mr. Radley, now retired, bought groceries. Mrs. Radley took care of the house and her plants on the porch. Arthur was Arthur. He was content as long as he had newspaper and scissors. Mr. Radley started to love his son more. Mr. Radley went from seeing his son as a curse of God and started to think of him as a gift from God. Mr. Radley, a typically calm, reserved man, started playing with his son. He may have been an adult, but he had the mind and the heart of an innocent child and Mr. Radley loved that. In contrast, as his love for Arthur grew, his resentment for Maycomb also grew. Their stories of Arthur become wild exaggerations. They didn't know Arthur. Who were they to judge his blessing from God? The neighborhood starting calling Arthur the cruel name of Boo, as though he were just a creature and not a beautiful, wonderful, innocent young man. Mr. Radley started to speak to Maycomb citizens as minimally as possible.
One night, Arthur and Mr. Radley were playing a game. Arthur got excited. Too excited. It was an accident. He didn't even really realize what he had done. He stabbed Mr. Radley in the leg with his favorite pair of scissors. They went to Dr. Reynolds and of course he had to call Heck Tate. When he got to the Radley residence, Arthur had forgotten the incident. Mr. and Mrs. Radley thought it was understandable. No one else did. The whole thing got blown out of proportions again. They locked Arthur up. It made Mr. Radley mad. His son was not a criminal. His son was not crazy. His son was a beautiful young man who just had a different understanding. Arthur was locked up and Mr. Radley couldn't get him out fast enough. Finally the courts heard his appeal; Arthur was coming home. Mr. Radley couldn't wait to have his little boy home again.
The nights in the courthouse basement changed Arthur. Now he was silent. He was deathly afraid to go outside. It broke Mr. Radley's heart. His son was so sweet and they had ruined his life. His special son, and he was lost because of their ignorance. Mr. Radley's personality in public was so cold that before he seemed personable in comparison. He had little to say to these people. He didn't care what they thought. He didn't care about their lives. Even the good ones like the lawyer Finch became strangers. Mr. Radley spent all day every day trying to get Arthur to become what he used to be. After years of trying, it finally hit Mr. Radley: Arthur was gone. All that was left was Boo.
The day he realized was the day he started dying. Within a month he was on his deathbed. The typical people came over. Boo stayed away. Mr. Radley died thinking his son was broken and he couldn't do anything to change that. As far as he knew, no one could fix him.
Of course, that was before Dill bet Jem that he couldn't touch the Radley house. That was before Boo met Scout and that was before Arthur started watching the lawyer Finch's kids.
That was my paper. I hope you like it. Because that was all I would need to use it for. Also, if you want to disprove anything I wrote, most of it was guesswork. It all came from the first chapter. Now if you haven't read this book, ask yourself, "Why in the world would a senior in high school write a four page paper for fun?" That is how amazing this book is. That paper was written from the first chapter. Seriously, if you haven't read it, do it now. I promise you it will change your perspective on life. It is so amazing. Thanks for reading this. Here's your prize. I have no idea what the heck it is. I spent like thirty seconds exploring, but have at it. That's all. Goodnight!
