Boo Radley put the blanket around Scout as another act of kindness and Harper Lee adds this in To Kill A Mockingbird to add mystery and confusion to Boo Radley’s character. After Jem and Scout watch the fire at Ms. Maudie’s from the Radley House, Atticus asks Scout where she got the blanket she was wearing from. Scout and Jem don’t remember where the blanket came from. While the kids are trying to recall how they got the blanket Atticus says, “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (Lee, pg. 96). Harper Lee wrote this scene to add to the suspense around Boo Radley. At the beginning of To Kill A Mockingbird Scout and Jem think that Boo Radley is malicious but now they are questioning that impression because of Boo’s kind acts. Boo has given them presents through the knothole and he gave Scout a blanket so she wouldn’t freeze. This adds to the confusion about Boo’s character because the kids don’t know if “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch” (Lee, pg. 13), or if he gives blankets to people when they are cold. This interaction still leaves the reader wondering why Boo Radley did not say anything to them. Did he not want to be noticed? Harper Lee wrote this scene to show that Boo Radley may be a kind person but he is without a doubt mysterious.
Do you think Boo Radley will be kind or malicious? How do you think Jem and Scout will react when they learn more about Boo? Will the kids and Boo ever become friends or will Nathan Radley continue to keep them apart?
I agree with you when you said that the author was trying to add more mystery and confusion about Boo Radley. It really makes the reader wonder what is locked up behind the walls of the house that makes Nathan Radley cut of all contact for Boo Radley to the outside world. When the Jem thinks “he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch” (Lee, pg. 13), he is just gathering information from rumors and his own imagination. I think Boo Radley will be kind, he certainly showed acts of kindness many times to Jem and Scout.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Cece and Colin, that Boo Radley is a mysterious and confusing character. As the stories continues, I believe that Jem and Scout will understand who Boo Radley really is, and they will want to be friends with him because they will find out how kind Boo Radley is. As Jem was talking to Atticus, he said, "... He ain't ever harmed us, he ain't ever hurt us, he coulda cut my throat from ear to ear but he tried to mend my pants instead..."(Lee 96). Jem cares for Boo Radley and does not want him to get hurt. Jem and Scout are curious of what they are going to find out about Boo Radley, and I believe Boo will continue to be kind to Jem and Scout.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Colin said about Harper Lee adding more mystery to Boo Radley's character. But I also think that Harper Lee is slowly giving us more insight into what Boo Radley's real life is like. For example, in the past couple decades nobody knows what Boo Radley has been up to. However, in chapters 6 & 7 we see that Boo Radley has given Jem and Scout presents, and he has given Jem his pants back folded and sewn back together. I think that the kids and Boo will become friends in the future because we have already seen Boo Radley sneak out of the house, which he hasn't done in decades. It isn't long before Boo Radley will find a way to sneak out and meet with Jem and Scout.
ReplyDeleteI definitely would have to agree with everyone who is saying that Harper Lee is adding some more mystery to who Boo really is, but I also feel like that she is trying to show that the rumors that Boo Radley was a crazy savage are incorrect. Boo in this part of the story shows compassion toward the kids which proves the rumors wrong. I believe that Nathan will try and separate Scout and Jem from Boo, but I have the feeling that if he is able to put gifts in the knothole then he will be able to go and be with the two kids.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Colin about how Boo is being kind to Scout in these chapters. This shows Boo in a new light from how the book portrays him in the beginning. After recalling the stories of Boo, the text says “The day Mr. Radley took Arthur home, people said the house died.” (Lee 15). As the book continues, I think Boo and the kids will have a more definite friendship.
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