Is the Boo Radley game accurate?

Q: What is Walter Cunningham like? What does his behavior during lunch suggest about his home life? ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

A: Young Walter Cunningham is shy and respectful when he says yes, that he forgot his lunch when the teacher asks him. He does not speak on his own behalf about not taking the quarter from the teacher because he cannot pay it back. He is humble. Jem asked Walter to eat lunch at home with Atticus because Walter would not have eaten lunch that day, or most days, because his family is too poor for him to bring lunch every day. Walter asks politely at lunch for molasses (or syrup) because he felt comfortable with Atticus and enjoys the chance to have syrup on his lunch, which does not happen in his own home.

Q: What do you think of the way Atticus treats Walter?

A: Atticus treats Walter like the mature young man he has become because of his knowledge and experience on the Cunningham family farm. Walter knows about crops and farming, skills that Jem and Scout do not have.

Q: Does Scout learn anything from Walter's visit? What do you think this is?

A: Scout learns from Calpurnia that it is impolite to draw attention to guests' behavior that is odd to her. Scout learns that it is impolite to draw attention to the fact that people like the Cunninghams pay back debts with gifts of food instead of money because this is all that they have.

Q: What do you learn in this chapter about the Ewells?

A: The Ewells are poor, uneducated, and disrespectful of authorities. They break laws and the community does not try to make them obey the laws because it is understood that they are poor folks who have not broken the cycle of poverty for many generations. Atticus remarks that Bob Ewell is not arrested for illegally hunting game on others' property because that may be the only meat that he provides for the children in the Ewell family.

Q: What superstitions do the children have in connection with the Radley house?

A: Jem, Scout, and Dill, as well as the other children of the neighborhood, believe that the house is haunted by "Hot Steams" and that even going near the house can get one killed.

Q: Why do the children make Boo's story into a game?

A: Jem makes up the game to demonstrate that he is not afraid of the Radley place.

Q: What do they do in this game? Do you think the game is an accurate version of what happens in the Radleys' home?

A: The children each take a part, such as Boo Radley, old Mr. Radley, and Mrs. Radley. They act out scenes that they think have taken place in the Radley house according to Miss Stephanie Crawford, like Boo stabbing his father in the leg.

Q: What might be the cause of the laughter from inside the house?

A: The laughter is most likely from Boo Radley inside the house after seeing Scout bump into the house while riding inside the tire. Her reaction after falling out of the tire and realizing she was in front of the Radley house was probably funny to Boo because he sees how the children fear what they do not know.

Q: Describe Miss Maudie Atkinson. How typical is she of Maycomb's women? What do the children think of her?

A: Miss Maudie is not like the other women in Maycomb because she enjoys her beautiful garden and being outside on her porch. She allows the neighborhood children to use her yard and she makes them special treats to eat and does not mind talking to them even though they are children. The children often confide in her and ask her to explain things to them because they know she will be straight-forward with them.

Q: What does Miss Maudie tell Scout about Boo? How does this compare with what Scout already believes?

A: Miss Maudie tells Scout that Boo Radley is not dead because she hasn't seen him carried out of the house yet. She says he just wants to stay in the house, and that it's all right to stay in if he doesn't want to come out. Miss Maudie implies that old Mr. Radley is a man in whose hands the Bible is worse than a bottle of whiskey and who is "so busy worrying about the next world they've never learned to live in this one." She tells Scout that the Radley house is a sad house, that Arthur (Boo) Radley was nice and respectful to her when he was a child, and that if he wasn't crazy then, he should be by now, because "the things that happen to people we never really know." This is very different from what Scout believes, which is that Boo Radley was dead and they stuffed him up the chimney!

Q: What reasons does Atticus give for the children not to play the Boo Radley game? Do you think he is right? Why?

A: Atticus told the children to stop tormenting Boo Radley by playing the game on the front porch. He says what Boo Radley "did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would. If he wanted to stay inside his own house he had the right to stay inside free from the attentions of inquisitive children." He said not to put the history of Boo Radley's life on display for the edification of the neighborhood.

Q: Why does Scout disapprove of Jem's and Dill's plan of looking in at one of the Radleys' windows?

A: She knew they would get in trouble with Atticus and that there was danger for sure by going anywhere near the Radley place, especially at night.

Q: What does Mr. Nathan Radley know about the intruders in his garden?

A: Miss Stephanie's explanation of why Mr. Nathan Radley fired the shotgun into the air to scare the person in his yard away implies that he knew that it was "white" kids, and not really a black person. Her last sentence about his warning to fire next time - be it - Jem Finch - is meant to be funny!

Q: Why does Dill's explanation of Jem's state of dress almost land him in trouble? 

A: Although it was quick thinking on Dill's part to say that Jem lost his pants playing strip poker, that explanation poses a problem because that game is obviously not something the kids should be playing.

What is the point of Boo Radleys game?

Why does Atticus tell the children not to play the Boo Radley game?

Why does Scout stop playing the Boo Radley game?

How has the Boo Radley game Changed To Kill a Mockingbird?