So far, throughout the book, Boo Radley has been a background character, until this incident. When the fire breaks out at Miss Maudie’s house, Atticus tells Jem and Scout to wait by the Radley house, in front of the gate. When the fire is extinguished and everyone is safe and sound, Scout and Jem realize that someone has laid a brown blanket across their shoulders! Scout mentions to the reader, “I looked down, and found myself clutching a brown woolen blanket around my shoulders” (95). Atticus and Jem inform her that Boo was the one to drape the blanket across Scout and her brother’s shoulders. At first, Scout is very disgusted at the thought of wearing something that Boo owned. “My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up when Jem held out the blanket” (96). Until this point in the story, Harper Lee has made it unclear as to whether or not Boo is a friendly, or evil-spirited character, but this incident certainly clears it up. If Harper Lee wanted to the reader to think that Boo had wanted to scare the kids, or trap them, then she would have had him tie them up in the blanket, or stand behind them until they notice him, and got scared, but that is not the case. Boo’s only intention was to try to make Scout and Jem warm when they were standing outside, waiting for the fire to be out, which is a very caring and thoughtful thing to do. Overall, Harper Lee’s reasoning for including this moment in the story was to clear up any ideas that maybe Boo Radley truly a shady, evil-spirited character.
Do you think that Scout or Jem realize that Boo is nice?
Despite Boo's act of draping the blanket around Scout's shoulders, I am still not certain Boo is a nice person. For starters, he stabbed his father with scissors. I wouldn't think a kind guy would do that. Secondly, Boo was always this scary and intimidating figure that lurks in the background of the book so far. I don't think on small act of kindness could change how Jem and Scout see Boo and have seen him for most of their lives. On the other hand, someone who is truly mean and scary wouldn't give Jem and Scout a blanket. Overall I think Boo Radley is a mysterious character that still has many secrets to share throughout the rest of the book.
ReplyDeleteI’d like to strike a happy medium between Fiona’s post and Nicholas's comment. Nicholas does indeed have a good point about Boo Radley supposedly stabbing his father with the scissors, but this may be only a matter of circumstance. We find out at the beginning of the book that Boo Radley is certainly not mentally well. During his youth, he “came before the probate judge on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, assault and battery, and using abusive and profane language in the presence and the hearing of a female” (12). This then leads to Boo being sent to an industrial school, where he stayed for several years. Then he came back to the house, where the scissor incident happened. He was “...cutting some items from the Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father entered the room. As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors into his parent’s leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his activities” (13). The way this is described, as it being a very calm action, is certainly not something a sane person would do. The years at the school must have done a number on his mental health, so this must have been a psychotic episode. (We must also keep in mind that this scenario isn’t perfectly valid, as it was told by Miss Stephanie Crawford.) However, we know that Jem and Scout’s knothole on the Radley property was filled often and with Scout and Jem in mind, given the soap carvings. If this is Boo Radley’s doing, this may give him joy, having someone to dote on often, and could calm his mind. The blanket scenario further goes to show that Boo Radley enjoys doing these things. Though he is seen in the book as a mysterious and crazy man, this doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a good side as well.
ReplyDeleteJust to talk about Nicholas's comment and Fiona's post, I think that Boo Radley really is a nice, kind, and caring person. We do not really know why he stabbed his father with a scissors, because for all we know, he could be mental by this point in the book and this might not be true because Miss Crawford said it. We also know that he does not come out and scare people during the night because the only person who says she's been scared by him is Miss Crawford. Miss Maudie shut her up by asking what she did when she saw him. Throughout the book so far, he has already done two acts of kindness, one to Jem, and the other to Scout. He repaired Jem's pants and gave Scout the blanket. These scenarios are further evidence of showing that Boo is really caring for Scout and Jem. I do agree when both Fiona and Nicholas say that Boo is a mysterios character because is he was so kind, you would think he would come out more. I think as we go deeper into the book, Boo's character will really be revealed.
ReplyDeleteI do think that Jem and Scout start to feel like Boo Radley is a nice person. The reader does start off with thinking that Boo Radley is a creepy mean person but I think that Harper Lee wanted the reader to think that. I agree with what Fiona said about how Harper Lee made this incident something to make Boo Radley seem like a good person. Even before the blanket gets put on Scout, they really want Boo to come out of his house. Maybe that was a little sign that tells the reader that Jem and Scout think that he may be a good person. He hasn’t done anything bad to them in the past. Boo Radley doesn’t come out of his house to scare people as Ben said in his comment. When he was little, he might have been a little bit insane for stabbing his father, but besides that there wasn’t anything else that he had done that was terrible.
ReplyDeleteI think we will eventually find out that Boo Radley has changed from his old ways. Back then he was a cruel, mean, disgusting criminal who committed horrible crimes. Now we get to find out a little bit more about Boo each chapter. I think he will eventually become one of the main characters of the story and that he will have changed from his old ways.
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