Skip to main content

How do Boo Radley, Atticus, and Jem show cowardice?

Cowardice is a lack of bravery. Boo Radley, Atticus, and Jem all show bravery at some points in the story. At other points, they seem to lack bravery, so one could say they display cowardice.


Boo Radley hides away in his house, never going out when people can see him. Although readers don't know his motivations for his reclusive lifestyle except through the insight provided by his history and town gossip--or the children's imaginations--when Boo rescues Jem and brings him home, he does seem to display some cowardice. He stands in the corner in Jem's bedroom and doesn't come near or speak to the others in the room. When Scout leads him back to the bedroom before she leads him home, Boo stands over Jem with "an expression of timid curiosity on his face." If one equates timidity with cowardice, then Boo exhibits cowardice here.


Atticus is portrayed as a highly courageous character. Throughout most of the book, he shows bravery rather than cowardice. However, if one strains to find an example of cowardice for Atticus, one might point to the time that he obeys his sister and talks to Jem and Scout about "how you must try to behave like the little lady and gentleman that you are." Atticus obviously doesn't want to give his children this talk about "gentle breeding," yet he seems afraid to defy his sister's wishes in this case. As he speaks to the children, his "collar seemed to worry him." Scout concludes that "Aunt Alexandra had put him up to this, somehow." So although Atticus stands up bravely before a mad dog, a murderous mob, and a foul Bob Ewell who spits in his face, he displays some cowardice before his sister.


Perhaps the strongest example of Jem showing cowardice is when he refuses to admit to Atticus that he was in the Radleys' garden. He sneaks back to get his pants even though he knows Mr. Radley is watching from his porch with a gun. He fears disappointing his father more than he fears being shot at. He tells Scout, "Atticus ain't ever whipped me since I can remember. I wanta keep it that way." 


Cowardice is a strong term, and there may be better words to describe the reasons for Boo's, Atticus's, and Jem's behaviors. Each of them does display some lack of bravery, however, as depicted in these incidents.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more