To Kill a Mockingbird question

Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell with the knife that Ewell was going to use on Jem or Scout. Boo defended the kids and removed a town problem, which is why the sheriff proclaimed that Ewell fell on the knife. Atticus and the sheriff (and Scout) knew exactly what really happened, and they all agreed to the story that Ewell accidentally fell on his knife to keep Boo from having to stand trial and/or suffer the outgoing "tender mercies" of all the ladies in town.

"Well, it'd be sorta like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?" ~Scout~ It's a sin to kill a mockingbird, that's why Atticus, Sherriff Tate, and Scout choose not to reveal the truth about Bob Ewell's death. Boo is the mockingbird...

Yes, Amy is right. Ewell had a jack-knife, which the sheriff took from his body so that it would appear Ewell brought the kitchen knife. But a knife was missing from Boo's kitchen.

Also, Scout stumbled into Ewell's body, felt his belt buckle and his whiskers, so he was face up at that point. When the sheriff came back from inspecting the scene, he reported to Atticus that Ewell was face down, having fallen on his knife in the scuffle.

The sheriff had sorted out what the final outcome should be and eventually prevailed over Atticus, due to their mutual concern for Boo and the realization that nothing could be gained from a trial in this case.

It is not clear whether Boo intended to kill Ewell or was just defending the kids. My view tends to the latter.

Boo Radley did kill Bob Ewell. It was in self defence, so he probably wouldn't have been charged for anything, but Boo clearly doesn't want to seen to the public, which is exactly what woul bhave happened if they found out he killed Bob. There would be at least a trial, so they lied to protect him.

"There is a time in which one must do the neccesary thing, but not neccesarily what is right."

We read this book for English class and finished a couple weeks ago. When Jem and Scout were walking home from the pagent, it was very dark and Bob Ewell was the one who attacked them under the Oak tree.Our teacher showed us very suddle evidence that it was Boo who pulled Bob away from Scout.For example, it was very dark that night and since Boo is always inside, he is accustomed to the dark, so he can see better. In the end, both Atticus and the sheriff new what happened, and both came up with different stories to protect Boo, that was what the porch chapter was about.(Atticus saying it was Jem, and Sheriff saying the Bob Ewell killed himself). They decided to go with the Sheriff's side, to protect Boo from getting attention, which is why he was always in his house in the first place.

Just finished it today...for a while there, I thought Atticus might have done it. :O By the end, it seemed evident the reader was supposed to think Boo did it. Still think there's a possibility it was an accident, though.

Could it have been Heck?
We are told about the jack knife, flaunted in front of Atticus. Removed from a drunk earlier in the day but we are not told the circumstances, why remove the knife?
Bob was on his back so couldnt fall forwards onto a knife
Heck wanted justice on Bob but couldnt do it legally
Heck *knew* Boo and greeted him in Jems bedroom. Boo was a recluse and was only known by the Doc so how did Heck know him as well?
Is it possible that Boo was watching the kids and protecting them, but it gave the opportunity for Heck to murder Bob in the dark without witnesses.
Boo killing Bob seems too easy for such a deep book. Too obvious, too clean cut.
As with the other comments Boo cant go on trial, Jem shouldnt be blamed but could risk hanging if tried and Atticus loses.

The first mocking bird was Tom, the second Boo ( or Jem)
Just a different slant, but if you re read the clues appear

Interesting to look at Boo's reticence in the light of Harper Lee's own.

Shelley, Rain: A Dust Bowl Story, http://dustbowlpoetry.wordpress.com

When Scout, Atticus, Tate and Boo go out onto the front porch, Atticus believes that Jem killed Bob Ewell in self-defense and out of his honor he doesn’t want to cover it up, but the sheriff corrects him when he said, “I’m not thinking of Jem!” And that is when Atticus realizes that he means Boo.

Boo used his kitchen knife, and the sheriff took away Ewell’s knife.

It is very important to understand Boo's role in this book as the one who gives gifts in a tree, who gives a blanket to Scout, and gives life to them both. In this way he sings like mockingbird and it would be a crime to send him to prison, i.e. kill him so to speak, just as Tom Robinson in the story was sent to prison and was killed. Tom was another man who did no wrong in life and only helped others, such as the Ewell woman.

I think Boo had to do with Bob's death but that was only to help them defenseless children plain and simple and you can't tell me no different. I also feel that Bob had to do with his daughter mess with Tom Robinson knowing that public opinion would go along with Tom being wronged and covering up his mess. Atticus being a man of honor(God bless him wish it was more of him around the joint)was trying to to call it as he saw it with his boy but the sheriff, knowing that, said No and let it be. my only thing was I wish it was so for Tom Robinson. I always loved To Kill A Mockingbird. Monroeville,AL, where Miss Lee is from is not far from where I live. had to pass through there once.

Just finished reading the book and had to find out if Boo killed Bob Ewell as I suspected. It was pitch black and he was the only one who could have seen what was going on. He looked out for Scout as we saw at the night of the fire when he wrapped a blanket around her. Atticus says "thank you for my children, Arthur" what else could this mean. Great posts.

Heck Tate tells Atticus, "To my way of thinkin', Mr Finch, taking the one man who's done you and this town a great favour an' draggin' him with his shy ways into the limelight- to me, that's a sin. It's a sin and I'm not about to have it on my head. If it was any other man, it'd be different. But not this man, Mr Finch."

That says it all. Boo killed Bob, Tate knew it and chose to hush it up, then as he explained it to Atticus, Scout also understood it. That's why, when asked by Atticus if she understood it, she said that Tate was right- that "...it'd be sort of like shootin' a mockingbird, wouldn't it?"

It's not really specific, because it doesn't really say that Boo killed him, it just said that he was protecting him. There's always the possibility Jem killed him, or Bob got stabbed by his own knife.

I don't believe there is concrete evidence that Boo killed Bob Ewell. In my opinion, I don't think Atticus strongly believed that Boo killed Ewell either. He is a lawyer and takes the facts given to him to make a case, and given what Scout told him, he believed that Jem killed Bob. When Scout was telling Tate and Atticus what happened, she said "then somebody yanked Mr. Ewell down. Jem must have got up, I guess." This made Atticus believe it was Jem who saved Scout.

On the porch, Atticus was looking out for Jem not Boo. Atticus did not want to live a lie protecting Jem from the killing, suggesting he truly believed Jem killed Bob, and if Atticus publicly denounced this fact that he believed, he would not be able to look Jem in the eye any longer. Supporting this statement, "“Scout is eight years old,” [Mr. Tate] said. “She was too scared to know exactly what went on.” “You’d be surprised,” Atticus said grimly." Also supporting this statement, "Mr. Tate said, "God damn it, I’m not thinking of Jem!"

With the switchblade and the kitchen knife, who knows which knife belonged to who. It was Halloween and a party had just occurred. The switchblade belonging to a drunk man could have been any drunk man. In addition, no information is provided as to who truly owns the kitchen knife. When Mr. Tate took out the switchblade, Atticus asked "That the knife that killed him, Heck?” Mr. Tate replies “No sir, still in him. Looked like a kitchen knife from the handle. Ken oughta be there with the hearse by now, doctor, ‘night.” If Mr. Tate wanted to corroborate a story with Atticus, it seems unnecessary to lie about the switchblade.

Lastly, did Boo really kill Bob Ewell? Mr. Tate said "It was mighty dark out there, black as ink. ‘d take somebody mighty used to the dark to make a competent witness". Later Mr. Tate adds, "All the ladies in Maycomb includin‘ my wife’d be knocking on his door bringing angel food cakes. To my way of thinkin’, Mr. Finch, taking the one man who’s done you and this town a great service an‘ draggin’ him with his shy ways into the limelight—to me, that’s a sin. It’s a sin and I’m not about to have it on my head. If it was any other man, it’d be different. But not this man, Mr. Finch.” Whether Boo just witnessed what happened or actually killed Bob, I don't think even Mr. Tate knows. I don't even think he cares for the truth of the matter, because a great service has been done. During the Tom Robinson case, I believe it was stated that he disagreed with the verdict and wholeheartedly agreed to the explanation provided by Atticus. As to the reason why I believe he doesn't care if Bob Ewell was killed or not, Mr. Tate told Atticus "Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch. Let the dead bury the dead."

Regarding what others have said about Scout feeling Bob dead on the floor, we do not know how Bob's body was positioned after being stabbed. If he fell on his knife, it's still possible to roll sideways, over, etc. Maybe he didn't die instantly and rolled over to his back. Also, in any position, Scout could have felt the body (belt buckle, face, and other things) with the bottom of her foot, making steps, or the top if she was shuffling her foot on the ground. It's not clearly stated, "I went to where I thought he had been and felt frantically along the ground, reaching out with my toes." So as to say Bob was face up and could not have fallen on his knife is, as I believe, not definitive.

Therefore, maybe Boo killed Bob; maybe he didn't. Just let it be I guess. "Let the dead bury the dead"

Scout says that boo gave them their lives doesnt that mean that he killed Bob so what is the question

in truth Boo killed Bob Ewell not out of malice but in defense of Scout and Jem. We suspect that it is not an accident and the sheriff,atticus and scout know it wasn't. but they decide to lie to avoid trial and prosecution for Boo because atticus knows that Boo would go to jail for sure just like tom robinson..

She says it in the book. Boo Radley was our neighbor. He gave us 2 soap dolls, 2 lucky pennies, a broken watch and chain and our lives.

I think Bob fell on the knife and killed himself. I could be wrong

FlightlessSparrow wrote: "I just got done reading To Kill a Mockingbird a few days ago and I wanted to know what you guys thought happened at the end. I think that Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell. Tell me what you think..."

In my oppinion I thought it was heroic because he saved the lives of those kids, but then again did he really kill him or was bobs death in his own hands??

Murdered would be too strong word for it. Certainly, the weight of the evidence and inference is that Boo killed Bob Ewell and that Atticus, Sheriff Tate, and Scout all know that but conspire to hide the truth to shield Boo's actions from public scrutiny out of gratitude and compassion for what is probably Boo's crippling social anxiety. Sheriff Tate might have pointed out that they would probably never know precisely what happened; they suspect that Boo stabbed Mr. Ewell but it's possible that in the scuffle Mr. Ewell did somehow end up being stabbed by accident. Boo would probably never tell. But murder is not just any killing, but wrongful killing. (And though people can argue about a few situations and whether or not a killing is wrongful, it would seem pretty clear in this case that Boo was acting in self-defense and the defense of children who were being attacked by a crazed man with a knife who had already hurt Jem and only failed to kill Scout with a knife due to her costume. Very few people, very few people indeed, would say that's wrongful.

Boo killed Bob to keep the children safe. Always from a distance, he watched out for those children.

Boo Radley killed Bob Ewell.

Rushabh I think you might have missed the point. It's not Boo's faith that stops the sheriff & Atticus letting people know about Boo saving the Finch children. He's extremely shy and retiring due to how his life has played out, and the praise he would get would put him in the spotlight, which the men and Scout understand would be difficult if not harmful for Boo.

Of course Boo killed Bob Ewell to protect the kids! And since his intentions were pure, the sheriff decided not to turn him in... Also because people like Bob are a menace to the society...

Boo killed Bob.

No, there were 2 knives. Bob was killed with a kitchen knife - probably one Boo brought from his house.

Another reason Boo killed Ewell and nobody knew it was because as a Shoe washing Baptist, he was really religious and it was against his religion to be celebrated or known as a killer to the town. Because he had a bad reputation in the town already, it would mess up his reputation even more.

I think you could be right, although it is eluded to that nothing will be done about this, as justice has finally been done.
The fate of Bob Ewell becomes the same type of mystery that Boo Radley was and I believe that this allows Boo to come out into society while Bob Ewell is allowed to fade into the background. A replacement of characters so to speak.

boo was protecting Jem and Scout. Bob was a dangerous person. the sheriff was right to let it go and say Bob fell on his own knife.

Where does it say, directly, in the text that Arthur Radley killed Ewell? I was so lost until my teacher explained it. Help?

REMEMBER: PLEASE evidence from the TEXT in the BOOK. NOT COMMENTS....page # maybe?

thank you! I really want to know, and whenever I ask this, people just tell me some random theory with no evidence.