The two
other social issues in the novel are violent sexual crimes against children and the difficulty
of identifying pedophile sex offenders.
Let's discuss the social problem of
pedophile sex offenders. What is the typical profile of a child predator? It's often difficult
for children to identify who these predators may be. The book addresses this problem. Mr. Harvey
is portrayed as an eccentric character, but he betrays nothing about his depraved intentions to
Susie.
Often, such predators succeed in deceiving even the adults around
him. After he kills Susie, Mr. Harvey expresses his sympathy and condolences to Susie's mother.
He tells her: "I hope they get the bastard. I'm sorry for your loss." At this point,
Franny and Susie (who are in heaven) agree that Mr. Harvey has no shame. Therein lies the
problem: pedophile sex offenders may not be readily identifiable based on their exterior
behavior alone. Meanwhile, Mr. Harvey is able to leverage the natural curiosity of a child to
lure her...
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