|
|
Post by tuckertravins on Jul 31, 2016 21:58:28 GMT
The few chapters that mentioned the "knot-hole" in the tree were particularly interesting, at least to me. The relationship between the "tree gifts", the Radley house, and Gem and Scout intrigued me, partly because of the mystery of it, and also the meaning. The gifts from Boo helped humanize him more, instead of just being a scary myth. There are a few more elements to it, such as how when the gifts quit coming (because of Boo's father), the stories and interactions with Boo and his household ceased as well. The last point I want to get to is why the hole was plugged. Obviously, the tree wasn't dead at all, in fact it was very healthy. I personally believe, after looking over it all, and feel free to contradict with your ideas, that Mr. Radley plugged up the hole because of just the meanness in his heart, even for an adult. This is a common idea and occurrence in the story, such as shown in many of Francis's actions like when he repeatedly calls Atticus a "n****r-lover".
|
|
|
|
Post by zacksciallo on Jul 31, 2016 22:26:54 GMT
/thread
Maybe he just didn't want Radley to keep giving gifts to kids so that way he doesn't look like a pedophile. "Jem stamped his foot. 'Don’t you know you’re not supposed to even touch the
trees over there? You’ll get killed if you do!'" (Lee, 34) After all it probably isn't a good idea to lure kids to a tree for presents when you are the weird guy in town.
|
|
|
|
Post by natestafford on Aug 3, 2016 23:30:07 GMT
I feel that Boo giving Jem and Scout gifts definitely did make him much more of a human figure and less of a monster, and I felt that this action was him trying to be free from his father and do what he wants, not what his father wants. When Mr. Radley plugged the hole I feel that it was his attempt to stop his son and show Boo that even though he was old he wasn't about to change his mind about people on his property. Lee including this major role for Boo I fell was foreshadowing him saving Jem and Scouts life at the end of the book.
|
|
|
|
Post by Noah Durrance on Aug 6, 2016 20:45:56 GMT
The hole is an interesting part of the book. It not only humanizes Boo, like many have commented already, but it also forges a connection between the children and Boo, which is an important relationship. Scout, Jem, and Dill spend a large majority of the first quarter of the book attempting to get inside the Radley House and see Boo Radley. They are not even sure if he exists, resorting to asking people like Miss Maudie to try and explain his story. So when the hole appears, there is proof for the children that he exists and this may be a point where Scout begins to fantasize about meeting him. Lee writes "I imagined how it would be: when it happened he'd just be sitting in the swing when I came along." Just before this admittance Scout is recounting the "two Indian-head pennies, chewing gum, soap dolls, a rusty medal, a broken watch and chain". The connection the hole forges is one that drives the story, and later on, may very well have saved Jem and Scout's lives.
|
|
|
|
Post by brooke on Aug 8, 2016 22:11:07 GMT
The hole in the tree was really interesting to me you lean from the beginning of the the book the myth of boo Radley and while you read that's all you think about is how he is a man who kills and just sits in his house and how no one ever sees him but then two kids show how he isn't such a bad man when he leaves special gift for scout and Jem in a hole of a tree so no one knows he's doing it but the children she how boo is actually a sweet man.
|
|
|
|
Post by lenadunz on Aug 22, 2016 2:52:07 GMT
I personally think that Mr. Radley plugged up the knot in the tree because he realized that his son was trying to break free of the cold hand of isolation he had put around his son. The hole in the tree represented the tap that Boo's freedom started leaking from while Scout and Jem took the objects he had left for them. However, Mr. Radley did not want his son to gain more freedom. He is also a rude man like you said, but I feel like him plugging up the tree was like him plugging up the flow of Boo's freedom.
|
|
