One of the most morbid rumors is spread by
Miss Stephanie Crawford, the leading town gossip.receives information from Miss Stephanie that
in 's younger days, he sat in the living room cutting papers with scissors when his father
walked by:
As Mr. Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors
into his parent's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants, and resumed his
activities.
While it is true that the family keeps Boo
locked away in their home, and he never emerges (which is the source of endless fascination for
the kids), one has to consider the veracity of any information spread by Miss
Stephanie.
Miss Maudie's attitude toward Miss Stephanie's rumors about Boo is
pretty much perfection:
Stephanie Crawford even told me
once she woke up in the middle of the night and found him looking in the window at her. I said
what did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him? That shut her up for a
while.
Miss Maudie is a rational woman who doesn't align
herself with the swaying opinions of the town. Thus, she shows that she doesn't really believe
the rumors about Boo, and certainly not those propelled by Miss Stephanie.
Still, the children continue in their efforts to draw Boo out of his house and into
their realm of entertainment. When they concoct a plan to deliver a note to him, they promise
him ice cream to help him "feel better," because, as Dill says,
How'd you feel if you'd been shut up for a hundred years with
nothin' but cats to eat?
It's unclear if Dill is using
areferencing how long Boo has been inside or whether he really believes him to be over a hundred
years old; the legend and mystery just keep growing. But somehow, Dill has seen or heard a rumor
about Boo's diet consisting only of cats.
By the end of the novel,comes to
realize that perhaps Boo looks around at their society and has some strong reasons for avoiding
interactions with people, as the mystery of the man shrinks just a bit.
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