What do you think the significance is of Scout falling asleep backstage?
The show had began and while Scout was sitting backstage awaiting her cue, she accidentally fell asleep, "I sat down, listened to Mrs. Merriweather's drone and the bass drum's boom and was soon fast asleep," (346). When Scout finally woke up she was late on her cue, and to Mrs. Merriweather had "...ruined her pageant," (347). While Jem reassured Scout that she was just a little late, Scout was still mortified, so she decided to keep her costume on to hide her ashamed face. "'You wanna take it off, Scout?' he [Jem] asked. 'Naw I'll just keep it on,' I said. I could hide my mortification under it'" (347). Although this could come off as a little weird, the reader could see why Harper Lee made Scout keep on her costume later on in chapter 29, when Scout was explaining what had happened on the walk one from school to Mr. Tate. "Atticus fetched the remains of my costume. Mr. Tate turned it over and bent it around to get an idea of its former shape. 'This thing probably saved you life,' he said," (360). Without having had fallen asleep and missing her cue, Scout wouldn't have felt mortified and kept her costume on, if she didn't have her costume on, Scout could have been killed that night. This just takes the fact that everything in this book is constructed so precisely to another level. It shows that everything in To Kill a Mockingbird was put in there for a reason, even little things like falling asleep backstage. This is also a way for Harper Lee to let the reader see how crazy Bob Ewell is, it allowed Bob Ewell to actually to try cut or stab Scout, without having her die, or be badly hurt.
Why do you think Aunt Alexandra had to leave the room? What other details contributed to the outcome of that night? Was it partly Atticus's fault because he had assumed the threats from Mr. Ewell were nothing?
I think that Atticus just keeps getting more and more weird and inhuman. The major way is that he takes Bob Ewell's threats lightly, which greatly impacted his children later on. So yes I agree that the attack was somewhat Atticus's fault. That night was a big part of the book because if it wasn't for Scout's ham costume or Boo Radley coming to save the day, either or both Finch kids could have died. Jem's broken arm was a big part as well but death is a bigger cause that just may have ruined the book.
ReplyDeleteIf Boo Radley wasn't around that night, do you think that anybody else would have came to help? How do you think they would have helped out differently? Why?
I don't think that anyone else would have come to save them. Atticus explained to Heck Tate that him and Aunt Alexandra had their radios on and wouldn't heard the yelling. Ms. Maudie was most likely asleep by the time it was over and if not she is still an old woman who wouldn't be able to overpower Bob Ewell. Finally no one else would have come from the school either because Jem and Scout had waited for quite a while after the show to leave and the lights had already gone out. If Boo wasn't there though the kids would most definitely died or seriously injured. To me it almost seems too good to be true that Boo would come out to save them, but I suppose Harper Lee was trying to create a twist in the plot before the book ends.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Boo's father didn't do anything? Do you think that when Boo returns home his father will be mad?
I believe Boo helped the children instead of his father because i don't think his father cared enough to get in the middle of that fight. Throughout the book Jem, Scout and Boo have all had such a strong connection to each other that Boo's father did not understand. I don't believe Boos father's reaction will play a major part in the story because it is Boo's life to control and he has the will to do what ever he wants, it isn't his father keeping him inside.
ReplyDeleteHow will Boo coming out affect Maycomb? Will Scouts fantasy of talking to Boo regularly come true? How do you figure Scout recognized that it in fact was Boo Radley?
I think that Scout’s fantasy of talking to Boo won’t be as she imagined. When she first became interested in making Boo come out years ago, Scout was frightened of him, as well as the Radley House. “Radley pecans would kill you. A baseball hit into the Radley yard was a lost ball and no questions asked. (11).” As Scout started to mature, she realized that maybe Boo wasn’t as scary as she had previously thought. She had received gifts in the tree, passed notes to him, and eventually stopped trying to get him to come out.
DeleteBy having Boo as the one to carry Jem to safety, I think that Harper Lee is showing how Boo isn’t the problem, Maycomb is. Maycomb had assumed that Boo was the most frightening man in the world, and that he was trouble and bad news, since he didn’t follow the “Maycomb Way.” When there is a problem in Maycomb, everyone shuts their doors and hides, just as they had done with the mad dog, and the trial. This was what you were supposed to do. It was assumed. It was correct. By having Boo come out just as trouble starts, it shows how being inside, and not open to the Maycomb community, has a positive impact. He wasn’t yet assimilated, and was still thinking on his own.
When Scout came to realize that the man standing in the corner of Jem’s bedroom was Boo Radley, I think that her whole perspective of him changed. Instead of being an evil and frightening man as she had once thought, or just mysterious and a little scary as she later thought, he had possibly saved her life, as well as Jem’s. I don’t think Scout will know how to talk to Boo. She had imagined it for years and years, planning what to say and how to say it, but she certainly never imagined the time would come like this.
How do you think this will affect Scout in the future? How about Boo? And their relationship? Why do you think Boo seemed nervous in Jem’s bedroom? Was it because of Scout? Atticus? The situation? How do you think Harper Lee will tie everything together at the end?
I believe that the reason for Scout to fall asleep during the pageant was to find a way for Scout to keep the costume on even after the it was over. In chapter 30, Mr. Tate explains that the costume was what had saved her life, so if she wasn't embarrassed after the pageant and took off the costume, she would have died.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Nell's first question, I believe that by coming out once and for all at the perfect moment, Boo Radley restored his reputation and status in Maycomb. People will no longer fear him and make up rumors about him because of his heroic act to save the innocent children of Atticus Finch from Bob Ewell. To answer Nell's last question, I think that Scout recognized Boo based on her prior knowledge of the townspeople and his appearance. In Scout's mind she describes Boo's hands as, "White hands, sickly white hands that had never seen the sun." (310) The only person in the town whose hands have likely not seen daylight in many years is Arthur Radley.
ReplyDeleteWill Scout and Boo become friends? How will Jem react when he wakes up? What will Nathan Radley's reaction be to Boo's leaving the house? Does he even care what Boo does?