Question

Give a breif description of what Jems character motivation is as he relates to Boo Radley

Answer 1

At first, Jem buys into the rumors about Boo being a monster. He is as infatuated with Boo as Scout and Dill are. In Chapter 1, Scout gives Jem's description of Boo:

"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..."

Answer 2

At the begining, Jem describes a version of Boo Radley that is essentially a monster from a horror story. This description reflects the children’s preconceived notions about who or what Boo might be. Boo Radley is viewed by Maycomb County as a mysterious and hateful creature. The people make up fictitious stories about him, which further hurts his image. Jem absorb these tales and hunt for Boo Radley to make him come out to see if they are true. As the novel develops, Arthur becomes more involved in the Jem's lives than he realize, after his plans to make Arthur emerge fail, he starts getting gifts from him. He slowly begin to realize that none of Maycomb's vicious tales can accurately describe a nice, lonely, law abiding young man, who is silently begging for a friend. At the end, Jem grow from being young children, whose dream it is to see the dreadful Boo Radley, to a thoughtful young adult who understand who Boo Radley is as a person. By doing this, he set himselve apart from the Maycomb townspeople with a mature outlook on Boo Radley.