Boo Radley’s Journal August 28th 1936.

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Boo Radley's Journal

August 28th 1936 - Those Finch kids came to touch my house today. I think that they think I'm a monster, they're terrified of me. I can't really say I blame them though. I'm so close to mad that it makes no difference. Anyone would be mad if they were kept in here as long as I've been. Anyway, they were hanging around the house without a care in the world, and I just saw one of them run towards the house. He threw the gate open and just slapped the side of the house with his palm. I was just opening the inside shutter to get a better view of the scene, but he had gone before I could see him properly.

I get sick of their fascination with our house. That said I am grateful for the attention. I've never really had a proper conversation with anyone since the incident, except with Mr. Nathan but that doesn't really count. I long to be able to go out side again, and relive my lost childhood. As it is I'm living it through the Finch children.

May 26th 1937 - I've been watching Jem and Scout (for they're their names) walk to and from school everyday, and today I decided to leave them a gift in the knot-hole in the old oak tree in our yard. It was only a couple of packets of chewing gum, but I think that at least Scout seemed to appreciate it. I'm glad to have some contact with the outside world. Jem seemed more suspicious of it though, a quality that must have come with age. When he saw what Scout had he made her spit it out immediately as if it was diseased. I may not be wonderfully handsome, but I'm definitely not diseased. I hate being treated like a freak. Everyone in this street has their own pre-conceived ideas about me, and Jem has obviously heard some of the stories that Miss Stephanie has been spreading around. The only thing I've ever wanted in my life is to be normal, and that seems to have been denied to me by my parents.
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Isn't it ironic that all the other boys that went to the correction unit ended up with an education, and a lack of personality problems, and I'm a paranoid schizophrenic who can't read or write. I'm sure my parents meant for the best when they decided to lock me up, but it's definitely backfired, and I hate them for it.

July 12th 1937 - Today I saw Jem and Scout playing outside my house again. They seem to have a friend with them, but I don't know what his name is. I recognize him from last summer. ...

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