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This could be true. I don't think any Dad would purposefully ask his children to call him by his first name unless for a reason...
As unthinkable as it is in some American subcultures, it's quite common in others. And Atticus is the type of person who would have done this.
Boo saved his kids' lives. That's something to be very, very grateful for.
I call my parents by their first names and always have. I don't know that it 'proves' anything in TKAM, but it is an interesting theory.
If you've read the book the next chapter talks about a man watching from a house, watching over his children. And his children are scout and jem. Atticus is mentioned but, as a man. Not a father, a man looking after his children and that got e thinking about Boo
Boo is a man who has suffered a great deal and who in those days had no real chance of developing a relationship and having a real family. This was because of the prejudices of those times. Mockingbird is not simply about the prejudice against racial difference but about prejudice against differences of other types too. Scout and her 'tomboy' behaviour highlights the attitudes of the time towards women - as did the need for Mayella to cry rape. Many people in Mockingbird are trapped simply because of the way they are born into the world - whether it be because of the colour of their skin, their gender or their mental health issues (which Boo had).
Harper Lee was showing that Boo had decided Jem and Scout were 'his' children as he had bonded with them over the years as he watched them play. They were the closest thing he could hope to have as a 'real' family - but they were not his genetic children.
If you read some books from the point of view of family pets they refer to 'their' children in the same way and they are talking about the human children. It doesn't mean the dog is the parent - it means they feel they claim a bonded kinship. Boo has 'adopted' the children because they bring joy to his otherwise extremely restricted life.
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May 06, 2012 08:06AM
This could be true. I don't think any Dad would purposefully ask his children to call him by his first name unless for a reason...
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As unthinkable as it is in some American subcultures, it's quite common in others. And Atticus is the type of person who would have done this.Boo saved his kids' lives. That's something to be very, very grateful for.
I call my parents by their first names and always have. I don't know that it 'proves' anything in TKAM, but it is an interesting theory.
If you've read the book the next chapter talks about a man watching from a house, watching over his children. And his children are scout and jem. Atticus is mentioned but, as a man. Not a father, a man looking after his children and that got e thinking about Boo
Boo is a man who has suffered a great deal and who in those days had no real chance of developing a relationship and having a real family. This was because of the prejudices of those times. Mockingbird is not simply about the prejudice against racial difference but about prejudice against differences of other types too. Scout and her 'tomboy' behaviour highlights the attitudes of the time towards women - as did the need for Mayella to cry rape. Many people in Mockingbird are trapped simply because of the way they are born into the world - whether it be because of the colour of their skin, their gender or their mental health issues (which Boo had).Harper Lee was showing that Boo had decided Jem and Scout were 'his' children as he had bonded with them over the years as he watched them play. They were the closest thing he could hope to have as a 'real' family - but they were not his genetic children.
If you read some books from the point of view of family pets they refer to 'their' children in the same way and they are talking about the human children. It doesn't mean the dog is the parent - it means they feel they claim a bonded kinship. Boo has 'adopted' the children because they bring joy to his otherwise extremely restricted life.
