Through The Eyes of a Child

Through the eyes of a child, all of this would seem remarkable. However, I think there is one thing Jean Louise Finch will always remember, and that is the realization that Boo Radley has children, but they belong to someone else. Scout sees through the eyes of a murderer who is the beholder of a golden heart. Boo Radley, he’s not really a mindless killer, he’s the guardian angel of a grown-up eight year old, and a childish 11 eleven year-old.

Scout gets the chance of a lifetime. She is allowed to see through someone else’s eyes and she takes opportunity by the tail. I think Scout always knew there were two sides to the solitary Boo. She was always trying to get Jem and Dill to leave the Radley place alone. I think she saw something no one else could see. Who knows, maybe she knew all along there was nothing wrong with him, but she had grown up with the tales of Maycomb, and didn’t know how to believe anything that went against the stories she was told. A child is willing to believe anything you tell them, and that is hard to change once they’ve got the idea in their head. If Scout had not grown up, delusion filling her head, maybe, just maybe, she could have gotten the courage to go knock on the door and make friends.

I’ve wondered if maybe the Radley’s provoked him into to stabbing his father. I also have formed a little theory of my own. I think that, knowing how protective Boo is, that maybe his father was a little violent and provoked Boo into hurting him, and that was the only way he could figure out how. Maybe his father hurt his mother, and persuaded her Boo was trying to kill him? I know, it’s a little out there, but it could be. Because, I really just don’t think Boo would stab his father with the scissors without a cause.

I’ve wondered why Boo only went out at night. Could it be his family kept him in because of rumors? Maybe, after a time, it was just easier for him to be licked up like an animal at the zoo, than let him out and let the gossip mill fly. Would his family let him out at night, like we do our dogs and cats or did he sneak out? Why was he caged?