How does Harper Lee present Maycomb’s attitudes towards the Radleys in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Harper Lee uses a variety of characters to comment on the Radleys throughout the novel. Their comments display the Maycomb community's attitudes towards the Radley family. Lee uses the character of Stephanie Crawford to convey the negative rumors about Boo Radley that are shared throughout the community. Miss Stephanie tells Jem that Boo stares into her window at night, and Scout mentions that every small crime committed in the county is blamed on the mysterious Boo Radley. Stephanie explains Boo's checkered past which propagates his negative perception. In Chapter 1, Scout mentions that when Mr. Radley died, Calpurnia said, "There goes the meanest man God ever blew breath into." (Lee 15) Miss Maudie tells Scout that Mr. Radley was a "foot-washing Baptist" and was a very strict man who punished his son severely for his childhood pranks. Scout comments that the Radleys were not social people which made them different from their community members.

Lee even uses the children throughout the novel to convey Maycomb's negative perception of the Radleys. At the beginning of the novel, Walter Cunningham Jr. comments that he almost lost his life because he ate one of the Radley's poisonous pecans. Jem and Dill's horrific description of Boo is a combination of the nasty rumors spread about him and their overactive imaginations. Even Atticus comments that the children should leave the Radleys alone, and thinks it's best not to return Boo's blanket after he gives it to Scout. Maycomb's negative perception of the Radleys stems from the fact that they are different. Maycomb is a highly prejudiced community that views anybody or anything different as negative. Their intolerance towards the Radleys not only affects Boo's reputation but hurts his chances of gaining friends throughout the community.