My book for the book report is entitled "Scoop", by Evelyn Waugh in which the hero is named William Boot. William is nothing like the average stereotyped "hero": he is extremely insignificant. This does not mean he is unimportant to the novel. His "insignificance" is based on his weak and somewhat bland personality. Although absolutely no physical descriptions of him are present in the novel, one can imagine that his appearance would be equally as insignificant and "bland" as his personality.
William Boot works for a newspaper called "The Beast" in which he writes a "bi-weekly half-column devoted to nature: Lush Places." (p.16). As mentioned earlier, William is quite insignificant and bland despite being the main character. This is based on the fact that he lacks initiative, he is extremely lazy and very naive, and has no great ambitions in life. On page 20 it is explained how William was given his place at "The Beast" and allows us to see how much he lacks self-initiative. "His job as author of Lush Places had been passed on to him by the widow on the death of its previous holder, the Rector of Boot Magna. He had carefully modeled his style on the late Rector's, at first painfully, now almost without effort. The work was of utmost importance to him: he was paid a guinea a time and it gave him the best possible excuse for remaining uninterruptedly in the country." (p. 20).
William lives and works in his family's residence: Boot Magna Hall. William's world has been confined to the boundaries of Boot Magna Hall, due to the fact that he spent his entire life there and that his job allows him to remain there permanently. His peaceful and quiet life there is suddenly disturbed when his editor-in-chief mistakenly choses William as a special reporter bound for a fictitious African country named Ishamelia to cover a small tribal war.
Three significant statements made by William occur in a conversation between William and his editor.
