We, the affirmative, believe that Arthur “Boo” Radley was a heroic character in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Heroes can be characterized by many different attributes. They are not only the people that are courageous, strong and perfect. Heroes can be out of the limelight and can make mistakes just like everyone else. But this does not stop them from stepping in to help others when they need it most. Some characteristics of a true hero include bravery, compassion, selflessness and positive influence. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the character Boo Radley is such a hero. We will be demonstrating this through several arguments. We will begin with our first argument. Boo Radley’s heroism can be proven by how he helped the children in several circumstances. He risked being sought out by his cruel brother many times when doing small things for Jem and Scout. As you all know, Jem’s pants got stuck in the Radley fence when they were escaping from their attempt to spy on Boo Radley. Boo Radley stitched up the pants, which were ripped, and hung them up on the fence for him. He saved Jem from having to explain to Atticus why his pants were torn, which could have led to more lies or a severe punishment. This may not seem like much, but for Jem, it made the world of a difference. Also when there was a fire in Miss Maudie’s house, Jem and Scout were outside. As you can imagine, it was probably very cold outside because it was winter. Scout was freezing without her coat. At that time, Boo Radley secretly came up behind her and covered her with a blanket. This act of kindness made Scout feel warm both externally and internally. Another thing that Boo Radley did for the children was to put small gift in the knothole of the tree. These items included… At the end of the novel, Scout mentions that she is very thankful to Boo Radley for those items. Boo did these things only to bring happiness to others and was content to let his acts fade into the background. Some would claim that Boo Radley’s acts were insignificant. However, it was his feelings that really mattered. He helped the children just to see a little bit of happiness on their faces in their otherwise dull lives. Boo Radley is a hero in this case in the sense that he took those small opportunities to help others. Most people believe heroes to be people that come to the rescue in times of severe crisis. However, as seen in these cases, a hero is simply someone who does little things to make an overall big impact.

Now we will present our last and most important argument. Boo Radley can be credited with teaching important life lessons to the children, especially to Scout. As mentioned previously, a hero is someone influential who inspires others to become better people. Boo Radley is one of the biggest reasons behind the mature understanding that Scout developed throughout the novel. We have all probably heard the saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’ This is one of the most important lessons that Boo Radley imparted to Jem and Scout. At the beginning of the novel, Boo Radley is regarded with fear and is thought to be a monster. From the rumors floating around, Jem compiled a monstrous description of Boo Radley. This description included that Boo Radley was six feet tall and