Friday, October 17, 2008

Chapters 4-7 the tree

What else did Jem and Scout find in the Radleys' tree? Why would there be no more surprises in the tree? What can this symbolize?

6 comments:

yasmin F. said...

First Scout and Jem found many things in the tree. They found little objects and miscellaneous items, but the one that impressed the most was the soap that had their faces carved out on it. But one day, Mr. Radley found out about this, and stuck cement in the tree. To me, this says that Boo Radley is a good person and just wants to make friends with the kids, instead of being their enemy.

Ms. R. said...

But what does it say about the person who cemented the tree hole?

Anonymous said...

In the tree in front of the Radley
place there always seems to be a surprise. It's either bubble gum or memories from Boo's childhood. teh, perhaps, most shoking items are two soap figures with Jem and Scouts faces in them. This tells Jem and Scout that the presents in the hole where ment to be for Jem and Scout and that someone had been observing them. But, one day, Nathan Radley is seen by Jem covering up the hole in the tree with cement. This may mean two thinks. Either Nathan is worried for the children and thinks that there may be something hardzarous in the tree one day so he does it with a good heart. Or, he is an evil person who wants to keep Boo from getting into some kind of contact with the outside world.

adrian said...

Hmmm, the Radley tree is one of the parts in the book that to me is crucial for explaining the type of character that Boo is. The Radley tree’s knot hole always had something for Jem and Scout, from a bubble gum to a broken watch to a soap sculpture. The meaning of the Radley tree is so crucial because it might be the only “safe” way to communicate with Arthur “Boo” Radley.

Maybe Nathan Radley just wanted Boo to be left alone or to just be isolated from the outside world. Scout instantly knew that the hole wasn’t plugged because the tree was sick, Scout knew that the tree wasn’t sick and that Nathan plugged the hole so they couldn’t talk to boo any more.


In response to what Yannick said.
Yannick,

Nathan Radley isn’t exactly evil. Nathan might be afraid that Boo gets to close to the kids or the kids get to close to Boo.

Anonymous said...

In response to Adrian:
We don't know to much about Nathan and he may as well be evil. But you are right about him being afraid that Boo might get too close to the children. However, I wrote something similar as a second choice: "Either Nathan is worried for the children and thinks that there may be something hardzarous in the tree one day so he does it with a good heart. Or, he is an evil person who wants to keep Boo from getting into some kind of contact with the outside world." But thanks for the comment. I hadn't thought of what you said.

sora cho said...

In the tree of the Radleys, the children find great things,such as their faces carved in soap, like everyone said.
I think that the reason Nathan Radley covers the tree with cement is because he is worried for his brother. As Adrian said, maybe Nathan wants to give the children a sign saying that he would really appreciate if they left Boo Radley alone, and not bother him. I think the main reason he did this was to protect his brother, not wanting to give the children an idea that they would have the chance to "bring" Boo outside.