If Boo Is God...

[Sitaram]

I just went to that "Sanctity of Unity" thread, and I forgot you had posted there.

Here is what catches my eye:

Think about "unity." We study the "UNI"verse in a "UNIV"ersity where
we constantly strive for a "G.U.T." (Grand Unifying Theory) Our various
religions stress "MONO"theism, or the "UNITY" of the Trinity. Our
government adopts the maxim "E Pluribus Unum" (From the many,
one.) We preach a creed of one God, one faith, one baptism, one wife, one husband, one nation under God, indivisible, and so forth. My very deployment of the word "one" with such frequency becomes onerous to the reader. We even make "top ten lists" of novels and many other things, which implies that there is a NUMBER ONE at the top of the list. We speak of "the great American novel" implying that there is one, and only one. It is amusing to note that, even though we have TWO eyes and TWO ears and TWO cerebral hemispheres, yet we experience only ONE unified field of vision and hear only ONE harmonious composition and have only ONE stream of consciousness. The number one seems to have a sanctity all its own. The sanctiy of unity give a new and different meaning to the one greatest prayer of Judaism, the Shema: "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is ONE." Numero Uno is a God for us in many ways.

Some authors (e.g. Melville & Milan Kundera) are sort of like easter bunnies, hiding esoteric treats in their writings for us to find. Other authors, like Trollope and Hardy, seem almost devoid of such symbolic connotative multivalent activity.

Of course, there is nothing at all wrong with a good story well told.

[Sitaram]

Some years ago there appeared a wonderful book entitled "An Exhultation of Larks."

James Lipton's "An Exaltation of Larks" is devoted to these collective nouns, many of which orignated as hunters' terms and have been in the language for centuries. Here's a gleaning from his book:

A covey of partridges
A murder of crows
A rafter of turkeys
A brood of hens
A fall of woodcocks
A dule of doves
A wedge of swans
A party of jays
A company of parrots
A colony of penguins
A cover of coots
A sord of mallards
A dissimulation of birds
A peep of chickens
A pitying of turtledoves
A paddling of ducks [on the water]
A siege of herons
A charm of finches
A skein of geese [in flight] a tidings of magpies
A cast of hawks
A deceit of lapwings
An ostentation of peacocks
A bouquet of pheasants
A congregation of plovers
An unkindness of ravens
A building of rooks
A host of sparrows
A descent of woodpeckers
A mustering of storks
A flight of swallows
A watch of nightingales
A murmuration of starlings
A spring of teal
A parliament of owls
An exaltation of larks


But, Mockingbirds are solitary.

http://placeforwildbirds.tripod.com/mock.html

Lee uses foreshadowing to insinuate that Boo Radley may be as much a mockingbird as Tom Robinson by having the children note that “in the darkness a solitary mocker poured out his repertoire in blissful unawareness” near the Radley house. The solitary figure of Boo Radley will save both children from death.

I did promise Sheherazade that I would read through "To Kill A Mockingbird" and look for the presence or absence of religious allusions, with special attention to my conjecter that "Boo is God."

Some of what I assert will be in the spirit of playfulness. When one canonizes a saint, there is always a "devil's advocate" who attempts to refute each allegation of sanctity.

Let us discuss some names which appear in the book. For now we shall discuss the name of the town Maycomb and then the surname of Boo Radley.

The Name Maycomb:

My first point is far fetched but fascinating, if only there might be some truth to it. In the Hebrew Torah (the Pentateuch or first five books of the Old Testament) there are various terms to denote God. The most frequent euphemism is "Ha Shem" (the name, the Holy name, unutterable, the tetragrammaton of four letters.) Another term for God is "makom" which means "place." The Kaballah has a special term, "tsimtsum," which means contraction or withdrawal, to describe how God makes a place for being, for the universe. It is believed that God is such a fullness, superabundance, plenum, that there is no "place" for the universe UNLESS God contracts and withdraws to make existence possible. That place is called "makom." The Talmud says, "God is not in the universe because God is the PLACE (makom) of the universe." How curious that makom, which is created by absence, withdrawal, should also denote that which is absent, contracted, withdrawn, like a pale penumbra. How curious that the word makom resembles the name of the town "Maycomb."

I have a number of observations to make as I read through Harper Lee's novel. I shall be adding to this post over the coming days, and will also post my comments to a page at my site.

An argument against my "makom" theory is that I do not find any connection with Judaism in the biographical information on Truman Capote. In fact, I did find one very anti-semetic remark made by Capote:

CAPOTE, TRUMAN, 20th century American, leftist writer: In an interview, he assailed "the Zionist mafia" monopolizing publishing today, and protested a tendency to suppress things that do not meet with Jewish approval. (Playboy magazine, March 1968).

http://partners.nytimes.com/books/97...pote-obit.html

An argument in favor of my "makom" theory is that the town of Maycomb is fictional.

http://mockingbird.chebucto.org/faq.html

Maycomb is a fictional representation of Monroeville, Alabama.


The Surname Radley:

The surname "Radley" has the root-word (pardon the pun) "rad" which
comes from the Latin word for "root." Notice that words like radish
and radical are built upon the etymological base of "rad."
Let us look at some of the definitions of the related word "radix:"

beginning, commencement, conception, derivation, genesis, head, inception, origin,original, origination, provenience, rise, root, rootstock, source, stem.

Here is a study of the names of Jesus:

http://www.parentalguide.com/Documen...s_of_jesus.htm

Below are those names which convey the notion of the root "rad" in

Boo Radley's name:

ROD OF THE STEM OF JESSE Isa 11:1
ROOT AND THE OFFSPRING OF DAVID Rev 22:16
ROOT OF DAVID Rev 5:5
ROOT OF JESSE Isa 11:10


Of course, we mentioned early on in this thread that the nickname "Boo" suggests a ghost which suggests the Holy Ghost.

Now let us look at the first sentence of the novel.

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly
broken at the elbow."

The first phrase we are presented with is "When he was nearly
thirteen." The author might have written "When he was twelve" and
most certainly Jem is still twelve when the injury occurs. It would
make sense to assume that Jem and the injury are at the forefront of
the thought which utters this sentence, and that the age is merely an
afterthought.

http://www.ahavat-israel.com/ahavat/torat/barmitzva.asp

"Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment." Under

Jewish Law, children are not obligated to observe the
commandments, although they are encouraged to do so as much as
possible to learn the obligations they will have as adults. At the age of
13 (12 for girls), children become obligated to observe the
commandments.

Bar Mitzvah is not about being a full adult in every sense of the word,
ready to marry, go out on your own, earn a living and raise children.
The Torah makes this abundantly clear. In Pirkei Avot, it is said that
while 13 is the proper age for fulfillment of the Commandments, 18 is
the proper age for marriage and 20 is the proper age for earning a
livelihood.

If we count the sentences of this first page, we discover that it is in
the SEVENTH sentence that both Dill and Boo Radley are mentioned.
What is the significance of seven? Genesis says that God created the
world in six days and rested on the seventh.

(Note: I am also posting these additions to a page at my site

http://toosmallforsupernova.org/page032.htm

and if I have more to add than will fit comfrotably in a forum thread, then I shall post it there, and those who have some interest in this may visit and read.)

[Scheherazade]

Sitaram,
I have also started re-reading 'Mockingbird' -only read a quarter of it yet- and I am first to admit humbly that my literary, religious and philosophical knowledge and understanding are non-existent compared to yours. I enjoy reading your posts on here -although not always able to appreciate them as they should be. I mostly favour a simpler approach -maybe an excuse to cover up my lack of knowledge and understanding. As I was reading your above post, I could not help but wonder if Lee really spent as much time to 'invent' town and family names or made sure certain names are mentioned at certain sentences on certain pages...
I agree with you that Boo Radley is one of the mockingbirds in the book along with Tom Robinson. And that the name Boo represents a ghostly sound -his real name Arthur is replaced by Boo probably after he was locked up in the house and all the weird stories about his acativities started circulating the town. However, as I said earlier, I am not really persuaded that if Lee's aim in writing this book was to bring the whole set of religious references into play. She could, surely, have chosen an easier and obvious way of doing so.
Your reference to the very first sentence of the book, I believe, shows how differently we look at things. That sentence makes me smile as it shows how sweet children are in their own ways. I spend a lot of time with children and if you have too, you must have noticed that children are never '5 years old' once they pass their 5th birthday but either '5 and a half' or 'almost 6' or 'nearly 6'... Scout's reference to Jem's age as 'nearly thirteen', to me, is a sweet expression of children's desire to grow up and wishing to show themselves a little older when possible. I really cannot see the religious reference in this.
As I read along, I am hoping to reply longer but at the moment I am in a hurry - I always say it is a shame the real life interferes with our cyber existance. I will finish with this anecdote:
My father is a real handy man. Takes pride in his work and enjoys every minute of it. Always fixing, upgrading, cleaning, maintaining something and he is very good at it too. One day our car broke down, making his day, as that gave him a real excuse to put his knowledge and abilities to test. So by Saturday morning, the car was lying in front of the house, his body wide open, guts ripped out... By Sunday afternoon, everything was lying in the same place as my father could NOT figure out what was wrong despite all the cleaning and oiling and replacing... Then, my brother, who was 15 at the time, solved the mystery... It was a loose screw causing the problem which could have been tightened without taking the engine out.
Have a nice day, Sitaram!
Looking forward to hearing from you soon!
Scher

[Sitaram]

So nice to hear from you! My theological analysis of "To Kill A Mockingbird" is somewhat "tongue in cheek." I have been trained over the years to analyze writings in this fashion, so this is something of a "devil's advocate" exercise. I should post here a link to my college essay from the late 1960's entitled something like "Prolegommena to Writing an Essay or Thesis upon a Work of Art (Literature)" in which I explore the validity of this type of analysis.

One of the links to my previous post is to a site of someone who actually knows Harper Lee slightly. At that site, in the FAQ, she give Ms. Lee's publishers address in answer to the frequently asked question, "How may one contact Harper Lee." I sent this person an e-mail with a link to my post "If Boo is God..." and I am thinking to print it out and mail it to Harper Lee, in care of her publisher. Perhaps nothing at all will happen, but one should always try when the worst thing one may hear is "No."

Someone once commented to me, "God answers every prayer, but sometimes the answer is NO" (quite in character for any parent, wouldn't you say?)

[Scheherazade]

It is a good practise for a parent to give a reply to a child's questions... even though it is a 'no'... And the worst thing is the lack of any reply at all... the silence and not knowing on child's behalf!

Just read this part in 'Mockingbird' and remember my post regarding parents' and answering children's questions Atticus to his brother Jack (when Jack tells Scout about Lord of Melbourne when she asks him what a 'whore-lady' is):

"Jack! When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles 'em."

[Scheherazade]

In Chapter 12, Atticus leaves for the State Legislature meeting:

'Besides, Cal, this isn't the first time Atticus has left us,' [Scout] protested.
'Yeah, but he makes certain your teacher's gonna be there. I didn't hear him say this time - reckon he forgot it.' Calpurnia scratched her head. Sudddenly she smiled. 'How'd you and Mister Jem like to come to church with me tomorrow?'

I cannot imagine Atticus forgetting something like this. Possible that he has done it on purpose, knowing that Cal wouldn't leave children alone and take them to the Church with herself? He, maybe, wanted to give children a chance to experience being within the Black community and get to know them better before the trial started... So that they would be prepared for what is coming and be able to take a view without prejudices?

As I read along, I am trying to keep an eye on the religious references but I am afraid (well not really;I am not afraid at all - I am quite happy about it actually ) I don't see any references to support your argument Boo = God. I am more certain than ever that Lee was just trying to encourage us to be wary of any taken-for-granted/set-in-stone (Rosetta Stone?) view, no matter what they are and question them. And religion is the top philosophy which requires such devotion: you either accept it without any ado and questioning or you are not a true believer. So, she surely cannot be introducing God and religious references into her work unless she wanted to question its place, influence and demands on people?

[Sitaram]

I only have time this morning to quickly skim over your post. Thanks for writing. I am quite certain that, if I were able to ask the author, she would laugh and say she had no such notion that Boo is God (but it is a catchy title for a post or essay.)

However, there are an inordinate number of references to religion, which I shall gradually compile at my website, and post here as well. I am just doing this as an amusing and instructive exercise. It is far more likely, for example, that Melville intended to portray the whale as God and far less likely that Lee had any thought in the world to portray Boo as Jesus.

What impressed me with the notion of Boo as Jesus was when I glanced and the summary in sparknotes are saw that 1.) no one ever saw him, and conjectered if he is real, and what he is like, 2.) he only appears at the last minute to "deliver from evil," and 3.) it is only when the children "know him personally" (a personal relationship with Jesus) that they arrive at maturity with respect to the existence of good and evil in the world.

[Scheherazade]

I agree with you that there are many references to religion in the story;it would be impossible for Lee to write her book credibly without any considering the times and place the story takes place. However, I cannot see her aiming to do this to present Christianity/God/Jesus in a sympathetic light. She does it just to open our eyes to the facts behind all the things done in the name of religion... Just to stir us and take another look at things...

[Scheherazade]

I am reading Chapter 20(the court room scene) and one thing has struck me... Almost all the characters who were introduced as 'unpleasant' or 'evil' to us have been shown under a softer lighter again.
Boo - giving all those gifts, mending Jem's trousers and putting the blanket over Scout's shoulders
Miss Caroline - She is inexperienced and trying to introduced new methods
Mrs. Dubose - we find out about her addiction and cannot help feeling sorry for her
Mr. Walter Cunningham - Although he is part of the mob, he then encourages them to go home.
Mr. Dolphu Raymond - He is not a drunk man but only pretends to be so and helps Dill.
Mayella Ewell - At the end of her testimony, we realise that she is a lonely, abused young girl
(The list might go on;this is what I can remember right now)

Atticus puts it so nicely for Scout: 'You never really understand a person until you . . . climb into his skin and walk around in it.'. We are given a glimpse into the existence of these people and made realise that they are humanbeings with goods and bads, just like rest of us. The prejudice we develop for them initially is replaced by an understanding (maybe not an agreement)...

Is Lee trying to say that we are, in one way or another, all mockingbirds? Once we understand each other and see our human failings along with our human glories, it is impossible to be judgemental?

[Sitaram]

The Mocking Bird and The Painted Bird*
Birds of a feather
Do not always flock together


*(by Jerzy Kosinsky)

[Avalive]

Can anybody please provide any online free text of the book "To Kill A Mockingbird"?

thanks

[Scheherazade]

Due to copyright issues, I doubt if you can find a free online copy. How about your library?

[Scheherazade]

After finishing the book, I have been thinking about Boo = God but I can gladly declare, I cannot find any traces of it -even in a tongue in cheek fashion. The way Lee mocks missionaries and so called Christian charity and double standards especially in the later chapters makes it impossible for me to agree to the existence of even a hint of that possiblity.

If Boo were God, what kind of deity is Lee presenting us with? One who is banished from the society, constantly ridiculed and subjected to horrible workings of human imagination... One who is powerless enough to break free from his oppressors and what is more, one who is unwilling to do so. One who is unable to stand up and bring justice for himself... One who, at the end, give in and accepts his fate. I don't think this a picture of the God which would impress the true Christians amongst us!

We might argue that Lee is disappointed with the Church, its followers and the way the religion is interpreted;thus, drawing picture of a withdrawn God -but one who is still be there in times of true need?- but that would require a very devout believer, one who is equally disappointed with the state of Christianity is today despite having very strong convictions herself.
Which is why now, I will do some reading on Lee herself... Just to have a feel of her upbringing and life so that I can put my mind at ease

[Sitaram]

If Boo were God, what kind of deity is Lee presenting us with? One who is banished from the society, constantly ridiculed and subjected to horrible workings of human imagination... One who is powerless enough to break free from his oppressors and what is more, one who is unwilling to do so. One who is unable to stand up and bring justice for himself... One who, at the end, give in and accepts his fate. I don't think this a picture of the God which would impress the true Christians amongst us!

Your description of a "Boo" god above sounds very much like Jesus to me: banished, ridiculed, powerless to break free, unwilling to escape his fate. And the crowd jeers at him and says "Others he saved, himself he cannot save. Come down from the cross."

Well, I am late for work, but I promise to re-read this thread.

[Scheherazade]

Boo = God = Jesus ?