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Samantha Kern

Mr. Samuel

9th Grade English

1 December 2015

To Kill a Mockingbird Essay

People who are quiet are sometimes seen as shy or mysterious, but I can agree with the

statement that the quietest people are often the most powerful. Being powerful is not always a

good thing though, it can overwhelm people and cause them to do harmful things.

For instance, in the beginning of the story Boo is a quiet person who is very powerful,

but not in a good way. While he was cutting up some items in the newspaper one day he decided

to stab his scissor into his father’s leg. It may not not have seemed that Boo was very powerful in

this situation, though Mrs. Radley ran into the street screaming, “​Arthur was killing them all”.

Boo’s power was no longer a secret after this situation.

Being quiet and being powerful can also be a good thing. It gives an advantage because

people don’t expect you to do anything if there is a problem. Towards the end of this story Boo

changes the use of his power from being bad to being good. When Jem and Scout got attack by

Bob Ewell Boo was there to save them. “T​he man was walking with the staccato steps of

someone carrying a load too heavy for him. He was going around the corner. He was carrying

Jem”​. ​At first Atticus doesn’t really believe what happened but after he realizes it he goes over to

Boo and says, “​Thank you for my children, Arthur.” Now Atticus sees that Boo is starting to

change for the good.

If somebody is quiet it doesn’t always mean that they are powerful, but they have the
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potential to become powerful. When you are quiet people don’t really expect much from you,

though many people may just not want others to know how powerful they can be. So, that’s why

I think that the most powerful people out there are the quiet ones.