Ch. 7-8 TKAM

In chapters 7-8 of “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, there were a few things that confused me and made me think. For example, when Jem asked Nathan Radley about why the hole was covered with cement, Mr. Radley said, “Tree’s dying. You plug ‘em with cement when they’re sick. You ought to know that, Jem” (Lee 62). This quote made me wonder why he actually plugged the hole, because Atticus said that the tree didn’t look very sick to him. I think that he might have plugged the hole because he found out that Boo was giving Scout and Jem gifts. He probably didn’t want his brother to get in trouble or to get accused of doing something wrong if anyone found out.

Another quote that got me thinking was when Atticus, Jem, and Scout realized that someone put a blanket over Scout, Jem said, “We did exactly as Atticus told us, we stood down by the Radley gate away from everybody, we didn’t move an inch” (Lee 71). Jem realizes that it must have been Boo Radley that put the blanket on Scout, which leads me to believe that Boo doesn’t mean any harm. I think that Boo is trying to gain Scout and Jem’s trust by leaving them gifts in the tree and by giving her a blanket. Since everyone in town thinks that Boo is bad, he is probably trying to prove to them that he isn’t.