At the end of the novel, Scout remarks that “Boo gave us a broken watch, two dolls, and our lives ...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” (320). In fact, they never even got to put the thank you note inside the oak tree.
Is this true, however? Did they realize give nothing to Boo? Please support your response.
Is this true, however? Did they realize give nothing to Boo? Please support your response.
Boo spent his whole life stuck in childhood with an abusive father figure and a prison. He was denied a normal life. I think the children helped him in so many ways. He could live out his childhood and parenthood, two things he never got to experience, through them. In his oppressive home, watching over the children was his refuge. He could laugh with them, pretend he was alongside them playing, and he could care for them. Plus, Boo is shut up in the house all day with no contact to the outside world, so it means so much to him that the children are so infatuated with him. They try to contact him, and even play games centered around him. Offensive or not, the attention they pay him brightens his day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Joanna, Boo got many gifts from the children even if they weren't actual gifts. Jem and Scout gave Boo happiness in his lonely house, and while trying to connect with him gave him a from of hope that somebody cared for him
ReplyDelete* a form of hope
ReplyDeleteI think the children gave Boo the opportunity to indirectly be a father by watching out for them. They gave him not a physical gift that can be taken but an internal gift that would always be with him just like Boo gave the children the gift of his protection. Boo never got to have a life and by being able to watch over the children he could experience an aspect of it.Fatherhood meant a lot to Boo because he could then give someone his heirlooms from the tree and the love inside him that no one could ever get. Jem and Scout also gave Boo memories both good and bad he would never forget.Being inside all day left Boo with the same everyday life having nothing to do. Now he actually has memories to look back at.Saving Scout and Jem, watching them play, giving them gifts in the tree all must have been an exciting part of his life. Besides being able to act like a father, Boo could also act like a child playing along with Jem, Scout, and Dill. He could laugh such as when Scout fell out of the tire or have fun watching them play the Boo Radley game. I think as children and even now when Scout is a little older, they still think of gifts mostly as a physical thing. But there is wisdom from Atticus, courage from Mrs. Dubose, and love also from and to Boo.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danielle. Scout and Jem gave Boo the life he never had. Boo, who has been locked up most of his life never completed his childhood and never became an adult. Scout and Jem allowed Boo to act as both a child, by watching and feeling like he was participating in their games and as a father figure, by caring for them(he puts a blanket on Scout when she is cold) and saving their lives.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the children really did give Boo something. They gave him a reason to get up in the morning and have something to look forward to. In his world where he is locked in a house with an abusive brother there is nothing happy in his life, and Jem and Scout filled that gap in his life, which is one of the greatest gifts he could have received. Scout, being a young girl may not realize the true significance of her actions, but they have altered his life
ReplyDeleteEven though they do not realize it, Scout and Jem do give Boo something. He doesn't have kids and a family or anyone to keep him company. He is lonely and they entertain him when he has nothing to do and no one to talk to. They give him someone to love and care about. They are like the kids that he doesn't and never will have.
ReplyDeleteI think that the children helped Boo complete his childhood. He was able to play childhood games with them indirectly, and overall, without the children, he probably would have never ventured outside the Radley Place. This is because he wouldn't have had to save the children, sow Jem's pants, or put a blanket around Scout if not for the friendship that they made. He was able to complete his childhood with Scout and Jem as well as become the father he always wanted to be (in a twisted way).
ReplyDeleteScout and Jem gave Boo their childhood. While Boo was inside rotting away in the darkness, he was able to survive, because he was able to watch the kids play and kid around. Because Boo never got to do this as a kid he pretended that he was Scout or Jem. Even though Boo gave Jem and Scout many gifts he probably was thanking them for experiencing their childhood from the indoors.
ReplyDeleteNO! Scout and Jem did not give Boo nothing, they gave Boo friendship( even thought they only saw him once) and they gave Boo the sense that he had something, like he had children to watch and care for. They gave Boo something that he wanted but could never really have because of his brother and father.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mostly everyone that Jem and Scout did give Boo something. The children gave him a friendship that he could not have normally due to his brother Mr. Nathan. In someways Jem and Scout gave Boo more than a regular friendship would give him because they helped ease the pain of not being able to go outside. One of the best friends in life are those who help each other when they need it and in this case both did that: Boo saved Jem and scout, and Jem and Scout gave Boo a friendship that he needed.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with everyone, accept for Paige (sorry to single you out though!). Boo gave the kids many gifts, but while the kids didnt intentionally give him any gifts, Boo found gifts through them. Boo probably fells like it was a gift to him when they accepted his gifts! Boo thought he was a father figure to the kids, so like a father, the little things and the sentimental actions are what matter the most. Other times when boo received a gift could be when Jem leaves his pants at the radley place. to most people, this wouldnt be a gift it would just be a bother, but for Boo, by fixing and returning Jem's pants, he felt that they had a connection and it brought them closer. Another example could be when he puts the blanket on scout, he does this because he cares and fells good that he can help his friend. I think that when Boo does things for the kids, it is a gift for him because he doesnt get to interact with any people. Another gift could be when Jem tells Atticus not to return the blanket because Boo will get in trouble, this saves Boo from Nathan. But the greatest gift the kids gave Boo was how they treated him like a human being. They treated him just like a dear friend unlike all of Maycomb, and this gift helps Scout and Jem realize more about themselves and the world around them.
ReplyDeleteLiterally, Jem and Scout gave nothing to Boo. No presents like the soap dolls or the pocketwatch. But what they gave them was their hearts. During the summer, Boo watched them through his window and it gave him happiness. It also gave him enjoyment when the children enacted a strage drama of their own invention. During the fall, he watched the children fight on the sidewalk on the way to school. He got the childhood and father figure out of these children. Even though Jem and Scout did not give Boo and items, they gave him a sense of family.
ReplyDeleteI think Jem and Scout gave Boo a lot. They gave him a reason to wake up in the morning and something to do all day. Through this, they gave him happiness, even if they were unaware of it. Without Jem and Scout, Boo would be a whole lot sadder.
ReplyDeleteThe children give Boo a sense of being both wanted and needed. In the early part of the novel, he is wanted by them. Jem, Scout, and Dill want to see Boo. They want him to come out of his house. They want to know what he looks like. They want to know him. He is a part of their innocence, as well. He is a monument of their curiosity and innocence because in the beginning of the novel, they are the most curious. Slowly, that curiosity fades, as does the innocence of the children as they are objected to the real world, in which every day people are persecuted and every day someone is all alone, and in which not everybody is loved, and even those who are loved are not perfect. By the end of the book, when Scout meets Boo, she is no longer an innocent child, but experience has hardened her into a sturdy young adult (almost!). Also at the end of the book, when Boo is no longer wanted by the children, he is needed. He saves their lives. The children have given Boo that much: that in the world which has shut Boo out of itself, excluded him one time too many to the point where he has decided he no longer wants to be a part of it, he is not the useless reject society has forced him to believe he is.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the children did give Boo something. I believe that Jem and Scout gave Boo a piece of his childhood that was taken away from him as a boy. While Boo was wasting away inside the Radley Place, the children were living their lives and enjoying their innocence. To some extent, Boo's innocence was taken away from him when he was got in trouble - his father was ashamed of him and locked him up. Boo is a child locked inside of a grown man's body, and he will always be that way. Boo never had the experiences that Jem and Scout did, and he's unable to because a social wall has been erected between him and Maycomb over the years while he's been held inside the house. Jem and Scout gave Boo what he never had. Boo was given the feeling of true family and happiness, even though he only had a small amount of time to experience it. I believe that the interaction between Jem and Scout was one of the best gifts that could be given to an outsider like Boo Radley.
ReplyDeleteI think that the children allowed Boo to see that all people are not evil. They gave his something when he had nothing. He felt responsible for them and interaction with them made his life better and gave him something to look forward to. Boo got experience out of the children he lived though them and got expreince he never had as a child.
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