Miss Stephanie Crawford is one of the Finch family's
neighbors in To Kill a Mockingbird. She is the "neighborhood scold"
(Chapter 1) and the biggest gossip in the town. Jem and Scout get most of their
information about Boo Radley from Miss Stephanie, who claims that Boo peeks in her
window at night. But Miss Maudie knows that most of what Miss Stephanie says is only
speculation. When Scout tells Maudie the stories about Boo told by Miss Stephanie,
Maudie tells Scout
"That is three-fourths colored folks and
one-fourth Stephanie Crawford... (she) 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." (Chapter
5)
An indirect
characterization comes from Scout when she identifies Mr. Avery as "old Miss Stephanie
Crawford's sweetheart." (Chapter 7) After her house burns down and Miss Maudie has to
move in with Miss Stephanie temporarily, she suggests that Miss Stephanie has
been
"after my
recipe (for Lane cake) for thirty years, and if she thinks I'll give it to her just
because I'm staying with her she's got another think coming." (Chapter
8)
However, Scout seems to
think Miss Stephanie isn't smart enough--or a competent enough cook--"to follow it
anyway." (Chapter 8)
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