Harper Lee included a detailed description of Boo to emphasize the fact that instead of a terrifying legend, he is a lost soul. Scout meets Arthur “Boo” Radley, after Jem has broken his arm and Bob Ewell has been found dead. Scout describes Boo Radley as having “sickly white hands that had never seen the sun… his face was as white as his hands,” (Lee 362). This part of the description brings to mind a ghost, which is why Arthur has earned the nickname ‘Boo’. He hasn’t been outside in sunlight in a long time, and this makes him uncomfortable and wary of light. Scout also says that Boo’s “cheeks were thin to hollowness… and his gray eyes were so colorless I thought he was blind,” (362). Boo is thin and ragged, and indistinct. This shows two things. The first is that Harper Lee is trying to show that Boo Radley is someone very lost and almost a prisoner of his own home. The second is that his identity has been drained away from him, and he has become nothing more than a whispered legend. When seeing Scout, Boo’s “lips parted into a timid smile,” (Lee 362). Boo Radley was the one who left gifts in the tree hollow for Scout and Jem, and he feels familiar with the duo. This is further evidenced because page 374 is devoted to describing ‘Boo’s children,’ and everything they did. Boo’s ‘children’ are Scout and Jem, so he feels familiar with them, which is why he smiles. At the same time, he has not had human contact save his brother for at least ten years. This means that he is uncomfortable with talking to people, especially as the center of attention. Throughout the book, Boo’s legend has been built up to resemble someone terrifying. Everyone is scared of him, and he has been made into more of a myth than a man. However, Boo is actually timid, scared of light and the humans around him.
I agree with Julia, and also I think that Harper Lee describes Boo to show just how ghostly he is, and to show how confined he is from the rest of the world. For example, Scout describes Boo's hair as "dead and thin, almost feathery on the top of his head" (Lee 362). This description makes him seem like he is already half-dead and roaming around like a zombie. Also, Scout recalls that her "eyes traveled up his thin frame to his torn denim shirt" (Lee 632). This description also adds to the idea that he is almost invisible and slowly fading away.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia, as Harper Lee definitely uses the scene including Boo to show that Arthur is a lost soul and prisoner. I also believe that Lee includes this key scene in the book, for readers to compare and contrast the real Arthur and phantom legend of him. In the final scene of the novel, Scout has fallen asleep right after being read a book of Jem's. Atticus gently awakens her so she can be brought back to her room. Scout is drowsy and states that "when they finally saw him Atticus, why he hadn't done any of those things... Atticus he was real nice," (Lee 376). Lee uses this scene as a reference to "Boo" Radley, how the society of Maycomb judged him as one thing, but in fact he was the opposite. This scenario has happened multiple times throughout the novel; such as the Tom Robinson case. An important moral Harper Lee wants the reader to take away from the novel is to never judge someone without feeling empathy first.
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