- It was a mistake going out the opposite way as other people, through the back of auditorium.
It was a mistake going out the back of the auditorium because nobody went through the back. Since nobody was there but Jem and Scout they are more vulnerable to get beat and harassed by Mr. Ewell rather than if there are a lot of people around them. If there were a lot of people with Jem and Scout Mr. Ewell cannot sneak up on them as easily. Also there is no lights the way Jem and Scout chose to go home, so they cannot see anything.
- It was a mistake yelling for Cecil.
Yelling for Cecil was not smart for Jem and Scout because Mr. Ewell heard both of them yell, so now he knows exactly where they are and who they are because of Jem and Scout's voices. If they had not yelled for Cecil then Mr. Ewell might lose where Jem and Scout are because it was very dark outside. Also if they kept quiet then Mr. Ewell would not be certain if the kids he was following were Atticus's kids, because he could not see their faces in the dark and he would not have heard their voices.
- It was a mistake for Scout keeping her costume on.
Scout keeping her costume on was a mistake because Scout could not move very well while wearing the costume. "Though my head and shoulders were free, I was so entangled we didn't get very far" (Lee, 351). She was so tangled in her ham costume that she could not keep her balance and move very far, which helped Mr. Ewell catch up to them and beat Jem and Scout. The costume was shiny too, so that would help Mr. Ewell see Scout in the dark. "Your fat streaks are showin'. Mrs. Crenshaw painted 'em with some of that shiny stuff so they'd show up under the footlights" (Lee, 349). In this quote Jem is talking about Scout's costume and how it is painted shiny and it is possible to see her although it was hard to see outside.
- It was a mistake for Jem fighting Mr. Ewell.
Jem fighting Mr. Ewell was a mistake. Although it was for a good cause to try to defend Scout, he could not fight off Mr. Ewell very well and he eventually broke Jem's arm and knocked him unconscious.
Does Boo's act of helping Jem get home change your view on Boo? Why does Harper Lee choose Boo to be the one who carries Jem home?
I already commented but I just wanted to say I didn't think it was a mistake of wearing the costume because it stopped the knife from going into Scout, because it just went into the costume. Even though I agree it was some what bad to wear it because it restricted Scout and made them more visible I think it was a good thing she wore it because it protected/ saved Scout.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Danny about the costume protecting Scout. Boo's act of getting Jem and Scout home safely show how much he cares about the kids. Before, in the book, he seemed almost phantom-like, as all the kids knew about him was that he had left gifts for him in the tree. At the beginning of the book, Boo honestly seemed like a monster, especially when the kids pretended to be him. However, as the book continued on, Boo was shown to be more human. By having Boo help the two Finch kids home, he was shown as a friend to the kids.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that most of those things were mistakes. Harper Lee put each of those things in there for a reason, and they all made the story valid. You need to remember that this is not a happy little journey for Scout, but that it is supposed to be a learning experience, no matter how hard it is. She needs to experience these things, whether she likes it or not. They were disadvantages to slow her down, and to put her in the key confrontation. As Zetty said, the costume saved Scout. Even little details matter in this book, and they are all there for a particular reason. If even one of them had been different, Scout and Jem may have not survived that night.
ReplyDeleteLife is a game of luck, sometimes it's good luck and sometimes bad. So for someone to say that Scout and Jem made a mistake would change the entire outcome of this situation, which in my opinion, didn't end up that badly. If Scout and Jem had come on the normal route with other people on it, the situation probably wouldn't have changed, because Bob Ewell would have noticed it and followed them, and not many people walk past the Radley house so it would have also been very private. When the kids yelled for Cecil, that could have been a sign for Boo that the kids were outside in the woods, whether they were in trouble or not. Scout's costume saved her life, the two of them couldn't have outrun Bob Ewell whether she had a costume on or not, and the costume prevented the blade from hitting her. Jem fighting Mr. Ewell was saving his life and Scouts. Jem fighting off Bob Ewell gave Boo enough time to come out and help the kids. Everything that happened in this scene happened to save Jem and Scout's lives.
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