Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Changing Perceptions of Boo Radley

Boo Raldey is a mysterious character who no one is sure if they should like or dislike yet. There have been a few occurences that have been traced back to him. One of them was a hole in one of the trees on the Radley lot. Another, was something that Boo Radley may or may not have done is when Jem goes back for his pants after they are torn and caught on the fence by the schoolyard and the finds the pants folded and sewn like a child's work on the other side. Because the Radley lot and the schoolyard are adjoined, Jem thought Boo Radley may have sewn his pants. These clues make me think that Boo Radley may be slightly crazy but nice. I think Boo has no contact with Maycomb and is protected by his family. However, sewing Jem's pants helped save Jem from being questioned by Atticus and is one way he has contact outside of his home.
"Arthur Radley just stays in the house, that's all," said Miss Maudie. "Wouldn't you stay in the house if you didn't want to come out?" (p.44) This sentence tells me that Miss Maudie is not telling very much information to Scout and sounds like she is trying to defend Boo Radley. I think that between Atticus and Miss Maudie they both know something more than Jem, Scout, and Dill. The fact that Atticus was upset that the kids were pretending to be the Radleys, shows that if there was something he was keeping from the kids, Atticus sounds like he feels bad for Boo. I think this may mean there is something about Boo Radley people don't know and he's not really a bad person -but just a victim of many bad rumors.

No comments: