It's difficult to know how Arthur Radley would respond to
a discussion of his past in To Kill a Mockingbird, because he is a
recluse. Probably the best insight into why Arthur is a recluse comes from Miss Maudie,
who explains to Jem and Scout one day that when Arthur and the other boys got in trouble
for a teenage prank, Arthur paid a much higher price because of the cruelty of his
parents. He was basically placed under house arrest for so long that he lost any
ability to carry on normal relationships with people; the Radleys apparently took
religion very seriously, but as Miss Maudie pointed out, were more than a little
hypocritical in using religion as a reason to ruin their son's life. The element of the
mysterious Boo Radley living in the decrepit home is one of the elements of the novel
that puts it in the category of "Gothic".
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