According to Miss. Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities... He was thirty-three years old then. (13)

This is just one of the many stories regarding Arthur "Boo" Radley. As with the other stories, it depicts Arthur as being a 'crazy' man, with a seemingly unstable mind.

Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that's why his hands were bloodstained - if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time. (16)

Arthur may even be seen as a monster to some of the Maycomb residents - especially the children. He is referred to as a "malevolent phantom," and regarded as a horror story.

"'Someday, maybe, Scout can thank him for covering her up.' 'Thank who?' 'Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn't know it when he put the blanket around you.'" (38)

Though Arthur is portrayed as a mystery, I feel that this is the first act that reveals who Arthur is. It allows both Scout, and the audience, to get to know Arthur without any prejudice from the other community members.

Arthur is well known in the community, but I feel as though he is misunderstood. It is very clear that the older community members have a different view of Arthur than the others, and I feel that this is because they are wise enough to look past the stories and see Arthur as Arthur. I feel that Arthur is an innocent man whose recluse tendencies confused and scared those around him. This lead others to make up stories, eventually making people fear him - yet Arthur is too shy to correct them. Based on his actions towards Jeremy and Jean Louise, I truly feel that Arthur is caring, protective, and gentle.