Summary Chapter 7

• a few days after the incident with Jem‘s pants, Jem tells Scout that he found his pants - completely mended - hung over the fence
• coming home from school, they find a ball of gray twine in the knothole and decide to leave it there for a few days
• when no one else claims it, they take it for their own
• Scout is still unhappy being in school; the second grade is no different from the first grade, yet Jem promises that school will get better every year
• in the fall, there is another present in the knothole: two figures carved in a bar of soap who look like Jem and Scout
• the bar of soap is followed by some chewing gum, a spelling bee medal and an old watch
• one day, however, the children find out that the knothole has been filled with cement
• Jem asks Mr. Radley about the cement in the knothole and Mr. Radley explains that he filled it with cement because the tree is dying

Summary Chapter 8

• winter hits Maycomb for the first time in years, snow is falling and the school is closed because of it
• Jem and Scout move the snow from Miss Maudie‘s yard to their own and they build a snowman with dirt that is covered by snow
• the snowman looks like Mr. Avery - a man living down the street - and the resemblence to Mr. Avery makes Atticus demand that his children modify it
• now, the snowman wears Miss Maudie‘s sunhat and some of her hedge clippers
• the same night, Miss Maudie‘s house burns down and the neighbours help her save her furniture
• Scout and Jem watch the event and someone drapes a blanket over Scout, but she doesn‘t know who it was when Atticus asks her about the blanket
• Jem comes to the conclusion that it must have been Boo Radley who put the blanket over Scout and tells Atticus about all the gifts in the knothole and the mended pants
• Atticus advises Jem and Scout to keep that story a secret and when Scout realizes that Boo had just been behind her during the fire, she almost throws up
• Miss Maudie is cheerful although she has lost her house; she claims that she had despised her old house anyways and that she will build a much smaller house with a large garden
• she also tells Scout that she wishes she could have been there for Scout when Boo had put the blanket over her

Function

• Boo‘s story and character are revealed implicitly
  
  • the reader guesses that it was Boo who mended Jem‘s pants
  • the reader also knows that it is Boo who puts the presents in the knothole
  • Scout does not know that this is Boo‘s doing until Jem and Atticus tell her so
• Jem matures and his understanding of the world shifts
  
  • Scout is disappointed about the cement-filled knothole since it means that there won‘t be presents anymore
  • Jem instead cries and realizes the cruelty of Boo‘s brother, since he deprives Boo of his connection to the outer world and of his attempt of making friends
  • Jem senses the injustice of that and suffers from painful disillusionment through this incident
  • theme of loss of innocence is portrayed throughout this chapter (both Boo‘s and Jem‘s innocence)
• theme: loss of innocence
  
  • the world and society of "To Kill a Mockingbird" is cruel, prejudiced and injust (Miss Maudie‘s house burns down, Boo interacts with others through the knothole, Jem notices how cruel Boo is being treated)
  • however, goodness remains in the form of understanding, common sense and sympathy (citizens of Maycomb help each other out, friendships prevail)