Sunday, September 23, 2018
Chapter 8/9: How did Scout end up with a blanket across her shoulders? Why would Harper Lee include this moment in the book? (Grace)
On the night of the fire, Boo Radley placed the blanket on Scout's shoulders. Harper Lee included this moment in the book to give a different perspective on the character Boo Radley and to show how different he is than the way people in Maycomb perceive him. When Miss Maudie's house catches fire, most of the town comes to help. Atticus tells Scout and Jem to stay in front of the Radley’s house, away from the fire. After the fire, Atticus notices the blanket wrapped around Scout's shoulders and slowly realizes how it got there. “Atticus grinned slowly. ‘Looks like all of Maycomb was out tonight, in one way or another.’” (Lee 95) At first, Scout and Jem don't know where the blanket could have come from, but they soon realize that with Nathan Radley helping with the fire, Boo Radley must have put the blanket around Scout to keep her warm. By including this event in the book, Harper Lee shows a different view of Boo Radley. Boo’s kindness to Scout the night of the fire demonstrates that he is not the crazy, scary man that everyone in the town thinks he is. Instead, he is a shy, kind person that just wanted to help. Even though he can't interact with Scout and Jem directly, he tries to reach out to them, similarly to how he was leaving things for them in the tree. This could change Scout’s idea of Boo Radley and how the reader views him for the rest of the story.
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I think this is a significant moment in the book for Boo because it shows him doing this nice little thing and it also shows his personality. This could be an important moment in the book because it could change Scout's perspective on Boo. This part also shows that even though Boo never used to even come out of his house, he is now to do things for Jem and Scout.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this is a very significant moment in the book especially for Boo. I hope that Scout and Jem will have a different kind of interest towards Boo. Everybody is so caught up on the story that "Boo drove the scissors into his parent's leg, pulled them out"(13). I hope that they don't fall for the single story that he is a bad person that the town has painted of him and they focus on the true him and the possible friendship that could be formed. I can't wait to see how Scout and Jem 's relationship with Boo will change.
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