50 pages • 1 hour read
Lindsay CurrieScritch Scratch
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Uncovering the Real Story
Scritch Scratch develops a theme of uncovering the real story as a means to create, sustain, and resolve its mystery plotline, and the relationship of this plotline to the novel’s deeper message of emotional understanding. This theme includes Lindsay Currie’s patterning of historical truth with fiction, which foregrounds her characters’ interest in historical research, especially as they use this interest to solve the novel’s literal narrative mystery.
At the beginning of Scritch Scratch, Claire thinks she understands the way things work. She feels very confident in her assumption that ghosts are not real, no matter what her father says. She also feels certain that Emily’s interest in makeup marks her out as vain and unserious. In fact, Claire’s assumptions are based on her emotional responses. She refuses to believe in ghosts partly because she thinks of herself as a scientist and values rationality, but also because she secretly finds ghost stories terrifying. She judges Emily harshly not only because they have different interests, but because she feels that Emily is responsible for taking her best friend away from her.
Claire’s mother makes an astute observation about her husband’s work as a paranormal researcher. She says that he has a knack for uncovering forgotten history and telling important stories so that they are not forgotten. She encourages her children to always look for hidden truths, as they might be the most important part of any story. As Claire learns more about the ghost and about Emily, she starts to recognize just how valuable her mother’s words really are. Sometimes, there is more to a story than an easy assumption or a surface-level observation.
There are two resolutions to this theme. The first relates to Claire’s personal life. When she starts communicating with Casley about their differences, she also learns more about Emily. Claire assumed that Emily’s life was perfect and that Casley was friends with her because she found her more interesting than she found Claire. As it turns out, Emily is dealing with her parents’ difficult divorce, her mother’s unemployment, and their relocation to Chicago. She uses makeup to distract herself from her pain, but it is not her only interest. She and Claire ultimately see each other more clearly and respect each other’s stories.
Claire originally thought that ghosts did not exist, but she learns that they do, and that one of them needs her help. After extensive research, Claire finally learns that she is being haunted by the ghost of Willie Novotny, who died on the SS Eastland. She takes it upon herself to learn the truth about what happened to him and to make his story known. Ultimately, she is doing the same thing that her father does with his ghost tours, even though she originally dismissed his career as fake and embarrassing.
Overcoming Fear
This theme is central to the novel’s emotional exploration and development, specially of the protagonist. The book’s supernatural elements support this the as these are the events that Claire is ostensibly frightened of. The book increasingly reveals, however, that Claire’s deeper fears are more personal and social in nature. By overcoming these suppressed fears, Claire is able to understand and neutralize the fears she has of the supernatural Willie.
Claire begins Scritch Scratch quite afraid of a lot of things around her. She is afraid of ghosts and ghost stories, even though she claims not to believe in them. She is afraid of the alleyway beside her house, and she is afraid that people will tease her if they learn about her dad’s ghost tours. She is even more worried that they will learn that she helped him out on the bus one evening. Most of all, she is afraid that she is about to lose her best friend. To deal with these fears, Claire convinces herself that ghosts are not real and retreats from her friendship with Casley to make herself feel less vulnerable.
When a ghost starts haunting her, Claire is reluctant to tell anyone or to ask for help. She believes that it is her own responsibility to deal with her problems. When her mother comforts her and gives her a hug after the ghost rattles her door, she thinks, “I know I shouldn’t need this” (54). She is 12 years old, which she thinks is too old to need to rely on anyone else. She also worries that if she does ask for help, her dad will exploit her frightening experiences and write about them in his new book.
Gradually, Claire learns that she does not have to overcome her fears all on her own. She tells Sam what is happening, and he is sympathetic and helpful. She opens up to Casley about the haunting, and Casley in turn helps assuage her fears about their friendship. Emily tells Claire that it is okay to be scared; it is not something to be ashamed of or something she needs to hide. Claire stops finding her dad’s job embarrassing and realizes that the people who truly matter in her life will never judge her for what her dad does.
Claire is able to put what she has learned into action to help Willie Novotny. She recognizes that he is just a frightened child who needs help; she does not need to be scared of him. Once she is able to understand and honor his fear, she is also able to help him find peace. He was not trying to frighten her in the first place. He was lost and afraid and was reaching out to someone he hoped would understand in the only way that he knew how.
Feeling Left Behind
This theme models one of the major experiences of the adolescent experience: feeling left behind, with related feelings of jealousy, shame, and betrayal. The novel portrays this feeling as a natural part of teenage life, as the characters and the narrative acknowledge it without judgment. The novel uses the words “feeling left behind” when Claire realizes and vocalizes her earlier feelings and links them to her connect with Willie. This explicitly connects the novel’s supernatural-mystery and realist-emotional strands.
In the opening chapter of Scritch Scratch, Claire feels worried that her best friend, Casley, no longer values their friendship. Casley has been spending time with Emily and ignoring Claire. Claire assumes that Casley finds Emily more interesting and more grown up, so she starts to retreat from the friendship; she thinks that texting Casley first will make her seem desperate. Casley unintentionally exacerbates Claire’s fears when she tells her that it is okay for things to change. She means that it is okay to start including Emily in their friend group, but Claire thinks she means that it is okay for their friendship to become distant or to fall apart entirely. Claire does not feel that there is anything she can do to fix the situation.
Like Claire, Willie Novotny’s ghost feels that he has been left behind. When he died, his body spent a week in a morgue, lying alone even after all the other victims of the Eastland had been identified. His parents and his sister also died in the disaster, leaving him entirely isolated. He also resents the fact that few people discuss the Eastland disaster in the present day. In a very real sense, he has been left behind as history moves forward without him. Although Willie and Claire’s situations could scarcely be more different, and although one of them has been dead for a century, they share an emotional connection that allows them to understand each other.
Fortunately for Claire and for Willie, both of them are able to resolve their feelings of isolation and abandonment. On Sam’s advice, Claire finally starts talking to Casley about her true feelings instead of isolating herself and lashing out. She is surprised but pleased to learn that Casley still values their friendship and does not consider Claire to be replaceable. She has a new friend now, but there is space for all three of them to get to know one another without anyone being left out.
Claire empathizes with Willie and does everything in her power to ensure that he will not be left behind, either. She previously resented her father’s paranormal career, but she can now see that he has the power to make sure that people understand who Willie was. She also volunteers her own time to teach people about Willie Novotny and the Eastland disaster. Her work pays off, and she can tell that Willie is now at peace.
