Summary: Chapter 7
A few days later, after school has begun for
the year, Jem tells Scout that he found the pants mysteriously mended
and hung neatly over the fence. When they come home from school
that day, they find another present hidden in the knothole: a ball
of gray twine. They leave it there for a few days, but no one takes
it, so they claim it for their own.
Unsurprisingly, Scout is as unhappy in second
grade as she was in first, but Jem promises her that school gets
better the farther along one goes. Late that fall, another present
appears in the knothole—two figures carved in soap to resemble Scout
and Jem. The figures are followed in turn by chewing gum, a spelling
bee medal, and an old pocket watch. The next day, Jem and Scout
find that the knothole has been filled with cement. When Jem asks
Mr. Radley (Nathan Radley, Boo’s brother) about the knothole the
following day, Mr. Radley replies that he plugged the knothole because
the tree is dying.
Summary: Chapter 8
For the first time in years, Maycomb endures
a real winter. There is even light snowfall, an event rare enough
for school to be closed. Jem and Scout haul as much snow as they
could from Miss Maudie’s yard to their own. Since there is not enough
snow to make a real snowman, they build a small figure out of dirt
and cover it with snow. They make it look like Mr. Avery, an unpleasant
man who lives down the street. The figure’s likeness to Mr. Avery
is so strong that Atticus demands that they disguise it. Jem places
Miss Maudie’s sunhat on its head and sticks her hedge clippers in
its hands, much to her chagrin.
That night, Atticus wakes Scout and helps her put on her
bathrobe and coat and goes outside with her and Jem. Miss Maudie’s house
is on fire. The neighbors help her save her furniture, and the fire
truck arrives in time to stop the fire from spreading to other houses,
but Miss Maudie’s house burns to the ground. In the confusion, someone
drapes a blanket over Scout. When Atticus later asks her about it,
she has no idea who put it over her. Jem realizes that Boo Radley
put it on her, and he reveals the whole story of the knothole, the
presents, and the mended pants to Atticus. Atticus tells them to
keep it to themselves, and Scout, realizing that Boo was just behind
her, nearly throws up.
Despite having lost her house, Miss Maudie is cheerful
the next day. She tells the children how much she hated her old
home and that she is already planning to build a smaller house and
plant a larger garden. She says that she wishes she had been there
when Boo put the blanket on Scout to catch him in the act.
Analysis: Chapters 7–8
Originally portrayed as a freak and a lunatic, Boo Radley
continues to gain the sympathy of the children in these chapters.
Lee uses an elliptical technique in telling Boo’s story—she hints
and implies at what is happening without ever showing the reader
directly. The reader must read between the lines—inferring, for
instance, that it was Boo Radley who mended Jem’s pants and placed
the presents in the tree, since Scout does not realize that Boo’s
hand is at work until Jem explains things to Atticus after the fire.
