In Chapter 4 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout, Jem, and Dill create episodes about the life of the Radley's:
It was a melancholy little drama, woven from bits and scraps of gossip and neighborhood legend: Mrs Radley had been beautiful until she married Mr. Radleay and lost all her money. She also lost most of her teeth, her hair and her right forefinger...Boo hit it off one night when he couldn't find any cats and squirrels to eat.
Other scenes include the sheriff, the probate judge, the boys who got into trouble, assorted townspeople, and the town gossip, Miss Stephanie Crawford. Of course, the climactic scene in which Boo strikes back at his stringent father involves the scissors; so, Jem steals into the house and takes the scissors from the sewing-machine drawer when Calpurnia's back is turned.
One day the children become so preoccupied that they do not realize the time; Atticus stops on his way home and stands on the sidewalk watching them:
'What are you playing?...What are you doing with those scissors, then?....Does this have anything to do with the Radleys?
After Atticus goes into the house, Scout tells her brother that she thinks their father is aware of what they are doing. Jem replies that she is just "being a girl." Scout narrates,
Atticus's arrival was the second reason I wanted to quit the game. The first reason happened the day I rolled into the Radley front year....Someone inside the house was laughing.
This last line contributes to the children's superstitions, a motif of the novel.
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