Monday, December 29, 2008

What is Scout's perspective on Boo Radley in Chapter Eight of To Kill a Mockingbird?

Her perspective changes from the beginning of the chapter to the end, but only slightly because she is still confused about what to make of the information she has. She has perceived him as a threat, and while she is still spooked by him, she now sees he may not be as scary as she thought.


At the beginning of the chapter we learn that Old Mrs. Radley has died and Scout seems certain that Boo was responsible. She and Jem are disappointed to find out that she actually died of natural causes AND that when Atticus visited the house after her passing, he did not see Boo. This shows that Scout views Boo as a bad guy, a psychopath, and a villain. Or at least she hopes he is for the sake of the stories they have been telling themselves. She is also genuinely a little spooked by the guy.


By the end of the chapter, it is obvious that Boo has snuck out of his house and put a blanket over Scout while she was watching Miss Maudie's house burn. When Atticus tells her it was Boo who wrapped the blanket around her, she felt sick:



"My stomach turned to water and I nearly threw up" (Ch. 8).



She, Jem, and Dill have all been telling stories about how crazy Boo is and up to this point she had no reason to disbelieve them. However, if he really did put the blanket over her, he might not be so scary. She's still nervous, though, about how close he got to her, given what she has felt about him.

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