Thursday, October 15, 2015
End of book: Look closely at the description of Boo. Why has Harper Lee included these details and why here? (Charlotte Shapiro)
Harper Lee includes the description of Boo Radley where she does to give the reader suspense. Rather than outright telling the audience that it was Boo Radley standing in the corner of Jem's room, Harper Lee provides an incredibly detailed description of Boo in order to make sure the audience knew it was him. It was quite obvious that it was Boo when Scout described, "They were white hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun, so white they stood out garishly against the dull cream wall in the dim light of Jem's room." (Lee 362) Harper Lee also includes the detail to show that Boo Radley is not the monstrous figure that the kids had pictured. It is a scene that characterizes both Jem and Scout, as well as Dill, because it shows how they have grown. When they were younger, they were highly impressionable and believed the rumors about Boo Radley being deformed and psychotic; but now that they are older, they understand that he is just a regular person who is extremely pale because he has not seen the sun for who knows how long. The moment when Scout realizes Boo Radley is standing in the same room as her is both a moment in which she matures a little, and a moment of complete and utter shock. It turns out Boo Radley is a good guy after all.
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I agree with what you say Charlotte. I think it's interesting when you look back at the beginning of the book, when Jem and Scout knew only rumors about Boo. When they were younger they wanted to know so much about him and would bother him. Then in the middle of the book, the trail came and there curiosity in Boo didn't lessen but they had less time. They were growing up, Scout was learning to be a lady and Jem didn't really want to be bothered. Now at the end of the book, they finally know who the real Boo Radley is.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sharon and Charlotte. Towards the beginning and middle of the book Scout and Jem thought of Boo as this terrible guy who stabbed his dad, but as the book began to progress the kids realized he wasn't such a bad person. The description of Boo really shows how he isn't some sort of monstrous figure but he is just a shy normal guy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sharon and Charlotte. Towards the beginning and middle of the book Scout and Jem thought of Boo as this terrible guy who stabbed his dad, but as the book began to progress the kids realized he wasn't such a bad person. The description of Boo really shows how he isn't some sort of monstrous figure but he is just a shy normal guy.
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