To Kill a Mockingbird Group

Question:

glittergirlz
glittergirlz
Student
High School - 9th Grade

In Chapter 1 of To Kill a Mockingbird, what aspects of the Radley house would be likely to frighten a child?

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Posted by glittergirlz on Saturday January 3, 2009 at 12:34 AM and tagged with chapter 1, radley house, setting, to kill a mockingbird.

Answers:

  1. parkerlee
    parkerlee Teacher

    eNotes Editor

    The Radley house was a run-down place with an unkempt, sparse yard instead of a garden. It was shaded by two pecan trees (which Jem later declared as being surely poisonous). The roof lacked some shingles and what paint remained on the wooden boards was cracked and blistered from the heat. The most frightening element, I suppose, was the squeak of the front porch when stepped upon and the scraping of the door upon its hinges. (This is very vividly depicted in the early film version of the book.) A dilapidated fence marked off the Radley's back yard (which later snagged Jem's pants) as forbidden territory.

    The scariest thing, though, was what the children never had the change to see, namely Boo Radley himself. He was more of a spectre than a human being to them, and his 'invisibility' mystified his presence even more.

    This image of Boo contrasts sharply with the timid, fragile man that Scout meets at the end of the story.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/mockingbird/
    http://www.enotes.com/mockingbird/chapter-1-summary-analysis

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    Posted by parkerlee on Saturday January 3, 2009 at 6:54 AM