Reading Response #8

My reaction was pretty much the same as scouts but in some different ways. I never expected Boo to be a white man. That really surprised me and it surprised Scout as well. The whole story they made Boo seem like he was a black man because they kept him hidden the whole story. When Scout finds out Boo was in the same room as her she didn't get overly exited, she was very polite and made him feel comfortable around everyone. "But Jem figured that Mr. Radley kept him chained to the bed most of the time" (Lee 12). This quote was from the beginning of the book when we first learn who Boo Radley is and it explains and shows to the reader how Boo was a bad man. That is what the author did too deceive the reader into thinking that Boo would be a Black male. But when we find out he's white it completely changes the thought of the story. It helped me understand how Boo was hidden because he was living in the house of a Black man (Arthur Radley) and that wasn't really known to be right back then since there was so much discrimination going on. It probably also shows that Boo was probably seen by Scout and Jem before but they have just never though of him being White so they just think hes just another towns person. My feelings have changed more since the beginning because now he's basically a different character then he was in the beginning. At first Scout just really wanted to know who he was and what he looked liked. She had a thought of what he looked like but when she met him in person, it was totally a different person then she thought he would be.

Exceed: "The neighborhood thought when Mr. Radley went under Boo would come out" (Lee 13). "Every move he made was uncertain, as if he were not sure his hands and feet could make proper contact with the things he touched" (Lee 318). These two quotes work together to create a feeling for the story by the first quote showing how Boo was a bad man and had to be held captive, or seemed like that at least and the only way he was gonna be aloud out was if Arthur past away. And the second quote works with eh first because it is at the end when we meet Boo and find out he's really not that bad of a man after all, he's a white man who has been hidden away his whole life and it creates a moment between Scout and Boo that we see where Scout understands Boo and Boo understands how Scout respects him in a way. 

My reaction was pretty much identical to Scouts. I honestly always hoped that they would have Boo and her meet up but I didn't think it would ever actually happen. It was similar to Scouts because we were both shocked he even came out of his home and I personally was shocked that he was a white man I assumed he would be black because of the way Lee kept him hidden for the whole story. It was different though because I think Scout warmed up to him pretty quickly she was holding his hand and stuff and I certainly would have been nice to him but nothing like she did. I think we both also felt empathy for Boo he's all locked up and we never really knew why. I assumed if we ever meet him in the novel he was going to be more scary and frightening. "Mr. Radley shot ar a Negro in his collard patch."(Lee 61) This quote was right after Boo Radley shot at Jem, Scout, and Dill because they were messing around in his yard and they were trying to cover up for themselves. I think this shows he was [erceived as scary cause all the kids and adults seemed to avoid him or mess with him secretly. Throughout the novel my feelings were always the same about Boo I thought he was a men old cranky man who didn't like anyone. But when we recently just met him they changed now he just seems like a sad and lonely man. 

I was surprised at the way he was introduced, but not at the way he behaved. I can't say I expected him to save them from a genuine life or death situation, though I also didn't expect Bob to attack Scout and Jem rather than Atticus. I did expect him to act how he did though- reserved, curious. In the very brief encounters they'd had with him before, he'd never showed any intent to harm anyone. "Boo was our Neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives. But neighbors give in return. We never put back into the tree what we took out of it: we had given him nothing, and it made me sad." Boo had seemingly made a point to leave them gifts, up until the tree was cemented in. He'd also covered Scout up when there was the fire at Miss Maudie's house. They're pretty simple gestures but to go out of his way to do them for them, even after they'd gone out trying to bother them, showed positive intentions. Up until the gifts and the fire I had assumed, like Scout, that he might be bad but after that, I've had pretty high hopes for him.

My reaction is about the same as scouts it's just kinda weird how this all happens and this is how scout get introduced to Boo Radley. "If Atticus could blandly introduce me to Boo Radley at a time like this, well-that was Atticus."(pg.311 Lee)  This supports my reasoning because like i said with all this happening Atticus decided that showing scout Boo Radley right now was the best thing to do.  Compared to the begging of the novel My opinion on Boo radley has changed a lot because in the begging of the novel i thought he was a old man that didn't want anything to do with people but now i can kinda see that he's more just lonely and such.   

My reaction to this event was basically the same as Scout's. I was more surprised with how he was introduced but not with his actions in the sense of being more quiet or reserved. "If Atticus could blandly introduce me to Boo Radley at a time like this, well-that was Atticus"(Lee, 311). I did not necessarily expect him to be a white man, but that would explain why the introduction was so casual (ish). At first, I initially was unsure how to perceive him as a character, as he was introduced from Scout and Jem's perspective, and so I didn't want to judge. That's not to say I didn't have ideas of who he was as a person, seemingly fairly reclusive. So I gathered that he must value alone time, or just not be a fan of social interaction. I did see him as a quiet character which some people seem to fear, and that being simply due to the air of mystery surrounding him.

When I found out who saved Jem and Scout I was shocked. He never appeared earlier in the book there where only roomers about him gave notice to him. Jem and Scout pictured him much more different that he really was. Scout reacted as though she had already met him and talked to him everyday. I saw him as a mystery. Fear was something that surrounded Scout and Jem when it came to Mr. Arthur. They didn't dare knock on the door and they would run past the house afraid of being caught by "Boo".Scout thought nothing of it when Boo was in her house, in her room, standing over her injured brother. She acted as if he had known the family forever and was part of it. She lead a total stranger whom she was always scared of throughout the house holding his hand without hesitation."You'd like to say goodnight  to Jem, wouldn't you, Mr.Arthur? Come right in."(Lee 318) Thsi swoed me how disconected Boo was but that didnt matter to Scout in the end. He was a normal person to her. He had feelings and morals just like her. We see this when he saves Jem and Scout and then still feels the need to say goodnight. I felt he was a mystery at the beginning. I only heard bad things about him so I did not understand that he was a person too. I think Scout relized that to.

  When we finally saw Boo Radley, I was only a little surprised. There was foreshadow in the prior chapters that prepared me to see him. The description leading up to his was a giveaway. The scene was so anticlimactic when Atticus introduced her to Boo, which is why it was less of a surprising experience and more of an embarrassing experience for Scout. “Maybe someday we would see him. I imagined how it would be: when it happened, he’d just be sitting in the swing when I came along. “Hidy do, Mr. Arthur,”...”(Lee, 278) This quote helped me better understand that Scout was never necessarily scared of Boo Radley. But she was scared of what she didn’t know. Nobody ever saw, nor truly understood Boo, and that’s what Scout feared. But once she does some growing up, she sympathizes with Boo. Realizing that maybe he’s not that bad, and a scenario where they interact could be normal. This quote helps us realize that Boo isn’t the enemy. Initially, at the beginning of the novel, I did believe that Boo was creepy, especially after the allegations of him stabbing Mrs. Radley. But once Scout started to process that nobody had actually seen or ever socialized with Boo, things started to change. I started to think that maybe Boo Radley is this character they portray to be a chained-up monster when in all reality, he’s just a guy who’s being shaded from the monstrosity of what's out in the world. My feelings on Boo have definitely changed, as we find out that he is only a reserved, but caring person.

Personal reaction: I think Boo is depicted well, him being pasty and white, skinny and hasnt gone out in a long time. Its pretty interesting to see how Boo protected Scout in Bob trying to kill her.

Scout seemed almost scared of Boo in a sense. She couldn't believe that she was in the same room as Boo Radley. Scout sees him as a bit nervous and his hands being a bit sweaty.

"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 247) This quote helped me understand boos look. It really emphasizes how he hadn't really seen the light in years and hadn't been around anyone.

In the beginning of the book he is depicted as being almost, scary in a sense. He seems like a person that you wouldn't want to go around. But in the end of the book he ends up saving Scout and Jem from being killed.

My reaction to Boo Radley was not the same as Scout’s, I figured they were going to have to bring him back at some point because the first half of the book was all about him. Scout was shocked at how pale he was and shocked to see him. “The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny almost invisible movement and the house was still.” (Lee 16) This quote helped me understand that there was someone hiding in the house and that Boo Radley would play a bigger role in the story. The whole first chapter had a lot to do with the Radley house and it seemed very unlikely that it’s story would end halfway through the book. My feelings haven’t changed towards Boo Radley throughout the book.

When Boo Radley was introduced I was a little bit shocked, like Scout (although she was a lot bit) but I started to expect it a little bit when the comment was made about them being under the tree next to his house, and had someone following them. Scout and I were both shocked, and both had moments were we expected to see Boo come out. "I was fairly sure Boo Radley was inside that house..." (Page 43 Lee) This supports my reasoning because that is an example of a time where she was convinced that Boo Radley was in the house, she was just unsure if she would ever see him. That quote helped me better understand what Scout felt about Boo, and how badly she wanted to see him. My feelings about Boo changed when we got to the reveal, as it showed us that he was brave, and willing to help others. 

My image of him wasn't far off, I pictured a 6'5" 300 lb pale guy with overalls. So I was a little surprised when she said he was very frail. Scout's reaction was different because Jem described his image to her "Jem gave a reasonable description of Boo: Boo was about six-and-a-half feet tall, judging from his tracks; he dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, that’s why his hands were bloodstained—if you ate an animal raw, you could never wash the blood off. There was a long jagged scar that ran across his face; what teeth he had were yellow and rotten; his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time."(lee 16) But when she sees him she's surprised he's not a giant savage-looking man. "I looked from his hands to his sand-stained khaki pants; my eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt. His face was as white as his hands, but for a shadow on his jutting chin. His cheeks were thin to hollowness; his mouth was wide; there were shallow, almost delicate indentations at his temples, and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind. His hair was dead and thin, almost feathery on top of his head." This definitely changes my image, everyone thought of him as this mysterious monster. But he was just an old man wanting to be left alone.

I was very surprised when Boo Radley appeared just how scout was, I had a feeling he would come back after not hearing about him for so long, after the trial, I thought he wouldn't appear, that's why I was so surprised. I always thought he was just an old mean skinny guy at the beginning of the book and he wasn't going to be important but I was wrong. I also thought At the beginning of the book Boo Radley wasn't a good guy and wouldn't help anyone but the end of the book proved me wrong. “The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny almost invisible movement and the house was still.” (Lee 16) I chose this quote because in the beginning of the book, quotes like these, talking about how mysterious and dreary his house is, Former my opinion on Boo Radley's personality.

When Boo Radley actually showed up I wasn't very shocked, I sort of expected this to happen. I didn't expect Scout's reaction but looking back it made sense. Throughout the story she goes through a lot of character development that might not be so obvious, she throughout ever minor and major event has began to open her mind and start to think for herself. Seeing Jem grow more independent has forced her to in a way, and with her being older and seeing the things she does she learns to come to conclusions on her own. In the beginning when Scout's introducing Boo Radley she says "The Radley Place was inhabited by an unknown entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end. . ." (Lee 7) we are set up with an air of mystery and we later come to find out Boo Radleys backstory, we are kind of on edge because we want to believe its a child's imagination but the adults around Scout tend to also feel a certain way about Radley and believe he isn't normal. After he offers Scout a blanket I knew that there was going to be some changes in Scout's perspective and her growth as a person and the trial solidified that. The way Scout reacted to Boo at the end was important because it showed us how she's grown to accept people beyond how others perceive them.

The moment we're introduced to Boo Radley as a concept we're meant to be hesitant, but when we finally meet Boo Radley at the end we meet him as a person. He's a reclusive man who despite being afraid of people for the most part, has the heart enough to defend those that keep up rumors about him. He's noble in his own way and Scout's able to see that because she's grown to know that everyone has their own good attributes deep within. Like Atticus says at the end of the book, "'Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.'" (Lee 323)

Boo Radley being shown in the story, seems very usual for Scout. 

“His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears. ‘Hey, Boo,’ I said.” (Lee 310)

My reaction was very different than Scout’s, I thought of it, more as a pivotal moment than she did. He was the one who saved Jem from Mr. Ewell, and we now understand the message that the encounter with Mr. Raymond was trying to tell the reader. That everybody has good in them, that still applies with Boo Radley. The rumors are, that Boo is some evil man, that stays inside, and if you enter the Radley property, bad things will happen. But after meeting who Boo really is, we find out that he is not at all like the rumors, and the way he and Scout walk back to his house, shows that there is a lot of good in him. 

“He walked to the corner of the lot, then back again, studying the simple terrain as if deciding how best to effect an entry, frowning, and scratching his head. Then I sneered at him. Jem threw open the gate and sped to the side of the house, slapped it with his palm and ran back past us, not waiting to see if his foray was successful. Dill and I followed on his heels. Safely on our porch, panting and out of breath, we looked back. The old house was the same, droopy and sick, but as we stared down the street we thought we saw an inside shutter move. Flick. A tiny, almost invisible movement, and the house was still.” (Lee 16) I see this moment as a man who just wants to be left alone, and he stays inside because he is probably judged by everyone because of the way he lives, so he stays inside.

My view of him did not change at all throughout the end portion of the story, I still see him as a person who just wants to be left alone.

My reaction was similar to scouts because it is the first time we really get to see boo Radley in the story. I thought that boo Radley was a colored man because that is just the way the story made it seem. I was really surprised that Mr. boo Radley saved scout and jem from bob Ewell who was gonna harm them to get back at their father for defending a black man and exposing Ewell to their community because he feels like his reputation is gone and everyone thinks he is a bad person. "The Radley Place was inhabited by an entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end.      (Lee 7) 

My opinion of Mr. Boo Radley has changed because I always thought he would be some old guy that is just a little weird but in the end, I think he was brave for saving the kids and risking putting himself in danger when he could have just been like well they're not my kids I don't care.

I was surprised to see Boo Radley because he basically disappeared after we saw him at the beginning of the book. My reaction is similar to Scout's because we were both surprised. "His lips parted into a timid smile, and our neighbor's image blurred with my sudden tears. "Hey, Boo," I said" (Lee 310) This quote supports my reasoning because Scout didn't know who he was until he showed himself. This quote helped me understand what Scout thinks of Boo Radley. She started tearing up when she saw him and that makes me believe that she's happy to see him. My thoughts on Radley now are way different because at the beginning I thought he was just an evil guy who stayed in his house all of the time. But now I realize that he's a good person because he was willing to risk his life to save Jem and Scout. 

I was honestly surprised to see Boo Radley because he disappeared for a while. My reaction is very similar to Scouts because we were both surprised to see Boo Radley. I was also surprised to see that Boo Radley saved Jem and Scout from Mr. Ewell who was going to hurt them to get back at their father. "The Radley Place was inhabited by an entity the mere description of whom was enough to make us behave for days on end." (Lee 7) My view on Boo Radley did not really change throughout the book because I just see him as someone who wants to be alone.

I was surprised at the way he was introduced, but not at the way he behaved. I can't say I expected him to save them from a genuine life or death situation, though I also didn't expect Bob to attack Scout and Jem rather than Atticus. My reaction to Boo Radley was not the same as Scout’s, I figured they were going to have to bring him back at some point because the first half of the book was all about him. Scout was shocked at how pale he was and shocked to see him. "I was fairly sure Boo Radley was inside that house..." (Page 43 Lee) this being said, It proves my point on how I do not agree with Scout on this one. 

I was surprised that the book reviled Boo Radley at all. I didn't think that we would meet Boo by him saving Scout and Jim. Mine and Scouts reaction were similar we were both very surprised. "His lips parted into a timid smile,and our neighbor's image blurred with my sudden tears. "Hey,Boo I said" (Lee 310) The quote helped me understand who the person that saved Scout and Jem.