If Boo Is God...

Well Schery, that depends whether someone belief /consider Jesus as a God or just as a prophet..

Perhaps I should have been more explicit. One takes certain things for granted, living in a predominantly Christian society/culture (though bear in mind that my own personal beliefs are more Hindu/Buddhist). For the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, and many Protestant denominations, Jesus is God incarnate. The notion of Jesus as an incarnation of God is analogous to the Hindu notion of an avatar (which means "having come down/descended"). I do not mean to be patronizing in this explanation, but there are members here from many different cultures I imagine, so I will mention that the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, is that God is ONE, (Christians do not consider themselves to be polytheistic), but that ONE monotheistic God, has three persons (from the Latin word "persona" for the mask which actors wore on stage): the three persons of the trinity are the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

When I chose the title for this thread, I felt "If Boo is God..." is more provocative than "if Boo is Jesus...", but certainly what I had in mind, when I first became aware of the role Boo plays in the novel, is that there are strong resemblences between Boo and Jesus.

I was quite startled when I saw that Scheherazade, in her more recent post, described Boo in almost the same language and tone that various passages (including Isaiah ch. 55 of the Old Testament ... or is that 53)... describe Jesus. Initially, I had not been struck by those similarities, but only by the fact that Boo is never seen... his existence and nature is only speculated upon... (the mysterious "gifts" appearing)... and only appearing at the end to deliver children from evil.... and the business about the children finally developing a "personal relationship" with Boo (just as Christians speak of a "personal relationship with Jesus."

Now, to address Sheherazade's most excellent question of "WHY would Harper Lee intentionally model Boo after Jesus." My notion is that Harper Lee saw the hypocrisy of a society which proclaims itself as Christian but treats others in a most un-Christ-like manner. What better way to "show up" the hypocrisy of such a society than to have a character such as Boo who would seem to be a misfit but who actually embodies the Christlike qualities of humility, compassion, self-sacrifice, perhaps forgiveness. There was a 4th century (C.E.) Bishop, Athanasius, who said "God became man so that man might become God." What the good bishop meant was that each Christian aspires to become as Christlike as possible. There is a verse from one of the Epistles of the New Testament which became a hymn sung at eastern orthodox baptisms, "All ye who have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ (as a garment)."

I am reminded, in "The Brothers Karamazov," of the dialogue between Alyosha, the monk, and his atheist brother, Ivan. Ivan has written a poem in which the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition meets the actual Jesus (who has returned to earth) and desires to banish Jesus as an enemy. The Inquisitor berates Jesus with accusation, and Jesus simply answers with a kiss. When Ivan finishes reading his poem, and askes Alyosha for his opinion, Alyosha simply mimics Christ and give Ivan a kiss. As I use the word "mimic" just now, it occurs to me how closely that word is related to the concept of a "Mockingbird" which MIMICS other things. There is a Christian spiritual work entitled "Imitation of Christ." What if the "mockers" (imitators) are the ones who are truly meek and Christlike, and ipso facto, because of their very nature, are persecuted.


Just now I was snooping around google.com, looking for the Isaiah passage, when I came across:

http://www.gloria-dei-belmont.org/se...004.03.03.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by From above link

Isaiah 53: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." How true that was in Israel's history. The people of Jesus' day didn't want a humble Christ who washed their feet and died for their sins; they wanted a mighty Messiah who would get the Romans off their backs and restore Jerusalem to its former glory. Many of the Gentiles in the early church stumbled over the message that a man who died on the cross was not only their Savior but also their God. But this is exactly what Isaiah recorded, exactly what Jesus did, and exactly what you and I need.


(at this same link, notice in this next anecdote, how Peter the Great is IMITATING Jesus)

It is said that Peter the Great of Russia once laid aside his royal garments and traveled to Holland to learn the art of shipbuilding for his people. Dressed in working clothes like any other worker in the shipyard, he kept his identity a secret as he learned his trade and labored as a commoner for the eventual benefit of his people. He assumed the most menial tasks to preserve his anonymity and to learn the full measure of laborious toil. Obviously this example is still an imperfect illustration of Jesus' humility, but it does give us a little glimpse and insight into the depths of Jesus' humiliation. He assumed the most menial task and hid his divinity to bring about the greatest spiritual blessings of forgiveness, peace, and eternal life. This is the humility that Isaiah portrays for us.

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If you visit THIS link:

http://www.internetpadre.com/cc_syllabus.html

and do a ctrl-F search for "mockingbird" you will notice that the movie "To Kill A Mockingbird" is one of the films listed, among many, for students to write about religious themes and symbolism.

BINGO! Search in google long enough and:

http://nancykeane.com/rl/288.htm

The above link is a long list of all the fictional characters which some people consider to be Christ-like figures... and it lists BOO RADLEY.

And, here are a few excerpts from AN ENTIRE SERMON based on "To Kill A Mockingbird:"

http://www.bradleyhillschurch.org/-1...1999574931.htm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A sermon on TKAM

As birds go, it is the story of the mockingbird and not the Order of the Phoenix that captures my attention. The species known for its song, named for its actual ability to imitate over forty sounds. Mockingbirds are not without magic! Legend has it that they not only taught the other birds to sing but gave the art of language to us non-feathered folk! As books go, it is the story that captured the imagination of the country in the fall of 1960 that has recaptured me this fall. To Kill a Mockingbird. Remember?

To Kill a Mockingbird is narrated by a girl who is six years old at the beginning of the story. Following a disastrous first day of school with her teacher and other students, her father offers some wisdom. “If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

That “simple trick” is the basic ethic of Christian faith. It’s a trick in the sense that it requires some skill, takes some practice so that you can do it easily. So it finally comes almost naturally, until we can almost surprise ourselves by our seeing what we did not see before. Considering things from another’s point of view. Walking in somebody else’s shoes. And the Apostle Paul makes it even trickier, when he insists that “we regard no one from a human point of view” but try to see one another as Christ sees us, as new creatures, reconciled to God and given the ministry of reconciliation.

I don’t think that when I read To Kill a Mockingbird back in high school I ever understood the title. In the course of the story the inquisitive Scout, a.k.a. Jean Louise, asks her friend Miss Maudie why she’s heard it said that it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy,” is the response. “They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” I think I get it now. Mockingbirds “sing their hearts out for us.” They are the ones that give themselves for us. Do no harm, do only gracious good. They mock our destructive ways. They imitate the grace of God, the goodness of Jesus Christ. There are persons in that story who are the mockingbirds. Tom Robinson, the black man whose kindness to a lonely white woman was fatal. Boo Radley, the white man whose reclusive vigilance of the Finch children saved their lives. It is a sin to kill a mockingbird. And it is our call to live that color blind kindness, goodness, empathy after the example and teaching of Jesus himself. To imitate the grace of God, the goodness of Jesus Christ.

How to learn this not-so- simple trick? One practice is to listen for the voice of Jesus in the stories of the world:

Atticus Finch was the attorney in Maycomb, Alabama appointed to defend an innocent black man against the charge of raping a white woman. To Kill a Mockingbird is a story where seemingly good white people can’t do the right thing. Where the churchgoing Methodists and Baptists and Presbyterians don’t do the Christian thing.

At the end of that particular story, the now nine-year old teller of it stands on the porch of the house she and the other children had feared and jeered. She has befriended the strange and hidden neighbor and taken him safely home. Blessed is he … Turning around, the girl realizes, “I had never seen our neighborhood from this angle.” Standing in front of his shuttered window, she saw what he had seen over seasons and years. “Atticus was right,” she says. “You never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them.”

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A great irony has just occured to me!

As I search and sift through google.com for material on TKAM ("To Kill A Mockingbird") I encounter SO MANY of those pesky cheathouse places that sell essays.

So many highschool and college students are required to read TKAM and write papers. If all of us keep posting, reading, analyzing TKAM, we will wind up with the be-all-end-all SUMMA THEOLOGICA of Harper Lee's novel. Everyone will come here (or wherever all this winds up in the search engines) to find out more than they ever wanted to know about various opinions on TKAM.

[QUOTE=Sitaram]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sitaram

I was quite startled when I saw that Scheherazade, in her more recent post, described Boo in almost the same language and tone that various passages (including Isaiah ch. 55 of the Old Testament ... or is that 53)... describe Jesus.

Now, to address Sheherazade's most excellent question of "WHY would Harper Lee intentionally model Boo after Jesus."

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I refuse to be shot by my own gun! :D :D :D

I will get back to you as soon as possible, Sir! ;)

:brickwall Bang! ========================> :angel:

I have read the posts -more than once;and have been doing some reading on Lee as well but I still cannot find any indication to say that she had the intention of making this novel a religious allegory. I can see why people would like to interpret things to suit their own convictions -we, afteral, even claim to see the face of a man on the moon. However, I don't think there is an indication from the author herself that she set out to give us all a very subtle lesson in Christianity and religion. Was she a pious person? Did she practise religion? Did she express any disappointment with Christianity?
If that was Lee's aim, i.e. to show the hypocrisy of the Christian world, why did she trouble herself to give a detailed account of an accused black man's fate? Why are there all the references to all the under priviliged groups, such as African Americans, women, children? Why did she include all the other 'mockingbirds' as I listed in one of my previous posts? Considering the times the books was written, when the civil rights movement was in its full swing, isn't it more likely that Lee actually aimed to write a book to support the movement?
Not so long ago, we were saying that we tend to read too much into things at times;is it possible that we might be doing the same here? :)

I didnt want to get into this, but, you see, the Holy Spirit totally took over the young Ms. Lee, and much of the writing was automatic. Ms. Lee writing TKAM is very similar to Muhammed's inspiration of the Surahs, and St. Paul being struck blind on the road to Damascus.

Once God had finished with Ms. Lee as an instrument of his righteousness, he cast her aside, like an old bananna peel, and the attending angels sang in chorus, "The prophetess has written the last page of TKAM. Let this be the seal of prophecy. No future messengers shall be sent to America. This book shall be the reading of all future highschool generations. And we hope this will teach you once and for all not to mess with colored people."

And then, the penitent sinner Truman Capote was annointed with the oil of compassion, and he lifted the stricken Ms. Lee, crushed by the divine weight of prophetic vision, and nursed her back to health. And she wept long and hard and said, "Oh, woe is me if the world finds out that I, the unworthy one, have served as mouthpiece for the Spirit of God." And the faithful sidekickTruman said, "Worry not, little Miss, for I shall shield thee, and tell the world a platonic Noble Lie, and drop hints on the Johnny Carson show that the book is really mine."

And God spoke to them from a cloud and said,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GodAlmighty

Fear not. Be of good cheer. You shall never write another book, and you must live in cloistered seclusion. But your one and only book shall win you a Pulitzer and a Nobel prize. And in the last days, when the people have grown listless and blasphemous and much addicted to cell phone usage, I shall raise up a righteous interpreter, and he shall be called "Sitaram" and he shall open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, and crush their cell phones under his mighty foot, and Lo! Scherezade, that great harlot of Babylon, shall be brought low and humbled. And all the people shall repent, and shall return to me, and shall don tee shirts which say "Boo is God..."

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(how am I doing.... so far... any converts yet.... shhhhhhh)


Somehow, as I reread my post, I am reminded of that scifi story "Canticle for Leibowitz" (spelling?)

ROTFL! :lol:
You are doing great! Another passage like that and I don't think even I can refrain myself from converting!!!

and... I promoted you to the exalted status of "mighty harlot"....

As Kojac used to say, "Who loves ya, Baby?"

I know! :eek:
Maybe, I am the only one who is not blinded and who is brave enough to stand alone, refusing to join in this submissive frenzy! Maybe, I will never agree to sell my soul for a t-shirt and wear the badge. Maybe, I am nothing but a mockingbird.

(And maybe, Lee is having a good laugh at our expense)