What we learn about Arthur ‘Boo’ Radley is that it was him who was leaving the presents for Jem and Scout in the knothole by the tree, the one that Nathan Radley (Boo’s brother) filled with cement. Boo is emotionally damaged, he keeps to him, stays distant from everyone else by staying in his house most of the time and the gifts in the tree is mainly the way he communicates with the siblings.
The reason why Jem cried when the whole was plugged is the same as how Harper Lee shows sympathy for Boo. The connection Boo has is cut off even after all the help he gifts he has done such as the soap and the mended pants, Jem sees how Boo’s brother covering the hole as simply cruel. In addition, Jem probably cried a lot because the relation between him and Boo has become more sentimental because Jem knows it was him placing the gifts. When the whole was plugged Jem was heartbroken that that relationship is cut off and later when he was comforting Scout it was just him hiding what he was feeling by placing the emotional response on her. He probably does not want people to know about his real feelings.
March 24, 2015 at 7:57 pm
Your piece of writing and the reason as to why Jem was crying, is in brief detail and gives the reader a understanding of the reason why Jem was crying and about the tree that Jem was using to communicate with Boo Radley.
But there is no detail, as to why Boo Radley is so enclosed from the rest of society.
The piece could also have specific quotes, as to how Jem felt after the hole in the tree was filled in.
March 24, 2015 at 8:12 pm
Thabit, this is exactly what Ms Andrews was looking for. Nice work.
March 24, 2015 at 8:47 pm
Hi Leo
This is a brilliant analysis on Boo Radleys character in To Kill a Mockingbird, However in the peice of writing it maybe an idea to explore why you think the tree is so important to boo Radley and why he is so segregated from society, Also why do you think Boo Radley is leaving present ts Scout and Jem and not to others around him, lastly it may be an idea to quote the text to backup your points like what does Scout say to Jem when she is crying and how does this show Scout and Hem character within the text, on the whole this is a very good analysis and the improvement above could make this a brilliant analysis with through ideas and points I this character to backup your points.
March 25, 2015 at 5:42 pm
Leo,
your piece of writing is good in the aspect of the reason why jems gets affected emotionally by what Nathan Radley did.You could have talked about the reasoning for Arthur radley being isolated from society and the outside world and why .
Adding quotes would have supported some of the points that you made and would have improved this text .Another thing that you could do is some other research to find out whether Harper lee did something like this when she was a child .
i do like how you wrote about how jem was comforting scout ,when she didn’t seem too bothered about the hole being filled up ,eventhough he was the one who was actually affected by this event
March 26, 2015 at 9:47 am
Hey, Leo – You’re very analytical. You know what your talking about when it comes to the book and you can take what you’ve learnt and represent it well. Be sure to go through what you write, not just for grammer and spelling (hole, not ‘whole’) but because you might find a word or to that fit better with what you’re trying to write: an example being ‘Jem and Scout’ rather than “the siblings”.
March 26, 2015 at 6:51 pm
Great feedback guys. Thabit you’re absolutley right; Leo I would really like you to explain why Boo is isolated and how/ if Harper Lee creates sympathy for him? (Language analysis ) Remember to back up your points with some quotations.