This picture relates to the Radley house story to me. I’ve never read the book before, but there has to be two sides to every story, especially considering the fact that most of the stories were basically rumors. The left half of the picture represents what people have come to think of the Radley home (even though Boo Radley isn’t a girl). The left side looks almost like a ghost, and gives off a negative image. It doesn’t look very happy or pleasing. The right side of the picture, however, could represent a happier side of the story. After all, the Radleys never leave their house… just because they’re closed off from society doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily bad people (although that is implied).
image courtesy http://pheonix2009.deviantart.com
When reading, I wasn’t exactly sure what to think. What stood out a lot to me, though, was the Radley home. It seems to have so much background going on, and it really makes you wonder… what really did happen? There were several characters that claimed to know what was going on, but what’s the true story? At the beginning, both Jem and Scout seemed too afraid to even enter the gates around the house, but in the summer Dill was very curious. After Dill dared Jem to go and touch the door, he acted high and mighty. But what was he proud of; touching a house? Were they that worried about a Boo Radley? Scout still stayed afraid.
Then again, she seemed to have valid points. The Radleys remained so mysterious. Boo Radley couldn’t be the only crazy one. The “stories” Jem and Scout told to Dill made it seem like the Radleys were hiding something, and in my opinion, I don’t think it would be Dill. After all, sure, you’d want to keep somebody who wasn’t exactly the safest person to be around inside, but even so, Mr. and Mrs. Radley hardly ever went outside. There has to be something more to it, because at the very end of chapter four, Scout said she heard laughing from inside the house. To me, the possibly haunted house left a lot to be wondered (not necessarily in a bad way).
In Maycomb, it looked like the school system wasn’t very good at doing its job. From what I understood, each grade level was in one classroom and the school wasn’t very large, but that’s mainly because it’s a small town. Scout mentioned that most of the first grade had failed it last year, which surprised me because that meant that either the students weren’t very motivated or that the system just wasn’t working. The implementation of the “Dewey Decimal System” probably meant that the school was trying a new thing that had potential to increase literacy and grades, but it was too forced upon the students. For example, Scout was punished because she didn’t learn to read by the new system and they discouraged free reading and writing.
The attendance of school in Maycomb should have been enforced more. When I read that the students were only required to attend school on the first day, I didn’t think that made much sense. Going solely on the first day isn’t doing much for the students and this likely contributed to the high flunk rates at the school. The new system should have included stricter attendance policies, which would also improve the literacy rates and grades. I understand that some of the families were in poverty and needed the help of their children, but that’s why students had Summer Vacation, to do just that.
